^ 

^^^. 


v^, 


>.^< 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


1.1 


iii  M2A    12.5 

s  Mali 


■  2.2 

Ml  «.    laii 


m, 


11^  ii4  IJ4 

* 

< 

6" 

1* 

V 


Fhologrofto 

SoHices 

Corporation 


# 


-<fr.  -^r^N 


23  V«T  MAM  STRm 

WKISTII,N.V.  M5M 
(71«)t72-4503 


^r 


•B^S" 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  M;croraproduction8  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


;V 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notas/Notas  tachniquaa  at  bibliographiquaa 


The  Iratituta  haa  attamptad  to  >btain  tna  bm 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Featurea  of  thia 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  imagea  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  aignificantly  change 
the  uauai  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


□ 


D 

D 
D 

D 

n 


Coloured  covera/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagte 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pelliculAe 


r~|    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  tltre  de  couverture  manque 


□   Coloured  maps/ 
Cartes  gAographiques  an  couleur 


D 


Coloured  inic  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  cuuleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illuatrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  iiluctrationa  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relit  avac  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serrie  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
diatortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intArieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout6es 
lors  d'une  restau  ration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  ttait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  M  Tilmtes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplAmentaires: 


•n 

to 


L'Inatitut  a  microfilm*  le  meilleur  exempleire 
qu'il  lui  a  At4  possible  de  s*  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifi«r 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mAthode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquto  ci-dessous. 


D 

D 


D 
D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  demaged/ 
Pages  endommagtes 


□   Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurtes  et/ou  pelliculAes 

0    Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  dAcolortes.  tachetAes  ou  piqui 


T» 

P< 
of 
fil 


Oi 
bf 
th 

Si( 

ol 
fil 
ail 
or 


piqu6es 


□Pages  detached/ 
Pages  dAtach^es 

EShowthrough/ 
Transparence 


Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualit^  in6gale  de  rimpresslon 

Includes  supplementary  materit 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplAmentaire 


I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I   Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Tl 
sli 
Tl 
w 

M 
dl 
er 
bi 
rll 
re 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Mition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totaiement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure. 
etc.,  ont  M  filmtes  it  nouveau  de  fapon  A 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  Is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  1\\m4t  au  taux  de  reduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

>/ 

W^^M 

3 

12X 


16X 


»X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  fiimed  h«r«  has  D««n  raproduecd  thanks 
to  th«  ganarosity  of: 

Library  of  tha  Public 
Archival  of  Canada 


L'axamplaira  f ilmA  f ut  raproduit  grAca  A  la 
gindroaiti  da: 

La  bibliothiqua  das  Archivas 
publiquas  du  Canada 


Tha  imagaa  appearing  hara  ara  tha  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  In  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Orifeinal  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  ara  flinoed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  lest  page  with  a  printed  or  iiiuatratad  impres* 
sion,  or  the  beck  cover  when  appropriate.  Ail 
other  original  copiea  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  s  printed  or  illustrated  imprea- 
slon,  and  ending  on  the  iaat  page  with  a  printed 
or  Illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »-  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  Images  suivantes  ont  Ati  reprodultes  avec  le 
plus  grand  soln.  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
da  la  nettet*  de  rexemplaire  film*,  «t  en 
confcrmitA  avec  les  condltlotis  du  contrat  de 
fllmage. 

Les  exemplairas  origlnaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  eat  ImprimAa  sent  fiimte  en  commen9ant 
par  le  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  solt  par  la 
darniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  emprelnte 
d'impression  ou  d'illu9tratlon,  soit  par  le  second 
plet,  seion  le  cas.  Tout  !es  eutres  exemplairas 
origlnaux  sent  fllmte  en  commen^ant  par  la 
pramiAre  page  qui  comporte  une  emprelnte 
d'impression  ou  d'lllustration  at  en  tarminaiit  par 
la  darnlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
emprelnte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
darnlAre  Image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  la 
cas:  la  symbols  — ►  signlfie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signlfis  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  tcj  large  to  be 
entirely  included  In  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
fllmAs  A  des  taux  da  reduction  dlff6rants. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
raproduit  en  un  seul  cfichA,  II  est  filmA  A  partir 
da  i'angia  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droits, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  pranant  la  nombre 
d'Imeges  nAcsssalra.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iilustrent  la  mAthoda. 


1 

2 

S 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

:-:»t>*<rti^-;-i5k , 


J,.t 


i 


I 


4 


JOURNAL 


^&^r 


or  TBB 


.    '.   Ci:'_/'       ^-#1^1 


EEVEEEND  PETER  JACOii 


'i^' 


Inbian  W&tnltj^nn  ptssionarg, 


FBOX 


,.'  m 


EICE  LAKE  TO  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  TERR1T(*Y, 


AND     KBTURNIItg. 


/  ^^*-- 


'-Ml 


AVD 


A  SHORT  HI9I0RT  OF  THE  WESLEtAN  MISSION 
THAT  COtlKTRY. 


0. 


pubIished  for  the  auth 

BT  OABUOM  Alio  rWIiUI*,  100  II0L«KBB¥-»TBBBT« 

im. 


*  J*  J0 


:j^ 


COMMENCING  MAY,  1852. 

i 

m  • 

A  BRIEF  ACCeUNT  OFHIS  Lirt/,*^!^: 


-"i^imi-'V^'f^l 


V  I 


'W 


^^ 


-5S**-' 


•IP 


..  jj&.. 


.  f#-. 


.'J-:,;.- 


-  /i 


tev 


:«;.,,. 


~V 


-  / 


«      , 


■4 


«v     A     A 


-    .-^ 


.^  ''.    , 


V 


V,'  x^ 


■a  ■' 


.^.. 


^^ 


)  .1 


BEV.     PETER    JACOBS, 

INDIAN    MISSIONARY, 


I 


JOURNAL 


OW  THS 


REVEEEID  PETEE  JACOBS, 


ntoM 


RICE  LAKE  TO  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  TERKlTORr. 


AHD    RSTUBNIHO, 


COMMENCING  MAY,  1852. 


WITH 


A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  LIFE, 


ANO 


A  SHORT  HISTORY  OP  THE  WESLEYAN  MSBION  IN 
?  V      .        '         THAT  COUNTRY. 


PtTBLISHED    FOB    THE    ATTTHCR 

BT.  OABLTOK  AOT  PBtLLOn,  300  MOLBBSBr-SXBEET. 

1855. 


% 


^"4/3^. 


»«fe^ 


J  "^    fit  ■%&.    Sm 


PETER  JACOBS'S  HISTORY  OF  HIMSELF. 


In  the  year  1824  I  first  heard  the  gospel  preached  b}'  the 
Rev.  William  Case ;  before  that  time  I  was  a  heathen,  and 
so  were  all  the  tribes  of  Canada  West.  When  I  was  a 
lad,  I  never  heard  an  Indian  piay,  as  Christians  pray,  to 
the  Great  Being.  Our  people  believed  ui  the  existence  of 
a  Great  Being,  the  maker  of  all  things ;  but  we  thought 
that  God  was  so  very  far  away  that  no  human  voice  could 
reach  him;  and,  indeed,  we  all  believed  that  God  did 
not  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  the  children  of  men. 

J,  as  well  as  the  people  of  my  tribe,  was  very  cruel  and 
wicked,  because  there  was  no  fear  of  God  in  our  heart,  and 
no  fear  of  punishment ;  but  every  man  settles  his  own  af- 
fairs by  the  force  of  his  tomahawk ;  that  is  to  say,  by  bury- 
ing his  tomhawk  in  the  people's  heads,  and  that  ends  all 
disputes.  The  Indiana  made  their  women  do  all  their 
work,  and  the  men  did  little  or  nothing  in  heathen  life. 
The  women  made  the  wigwam,  and  removed  it  when  neces- 
sary, carrying  it  on  their  backs ;  and  they  chopped  the  wood, 
and  carried  it  home  on  their  backs.  They  brought  the  veni- 
son home,  when  the  deer  was  killed  by  their  husbands ;  they 
dressed  the  skins  for  their  husbands'  clothes,  and  made  the 
coats,  shirts,  and  moccasins,  which  completes  the  Indian 
dress,  as  you  now  uee  in  the  picture ; — all  was  done  by  the 
women.  Notwithstanding  the  poor  women  did  all  this, 
they  got  very  little  gratitude  from  their  heathen  husbands. 

I  will  just  relate  to  you  one  of  my  prayers  m  heathen 
life.  "  0  God  the  Sun,  I  beseech  you  to  hear  my  prayer, 
and  to  direct  my  steps  through  the  woods  in  that  direction 
where  the  deer  is  feeding,  that  I  may  get  near  him,  shoot 
him,  and  kill  \^ra,  and  have  something  to  eat  thereby." 


1: 


■  ^^.  -.1-  i^»    •■^■ 


■   ol'T''..^-  •   ■'->  ■■'■'"'.' 


4 


PETER  JACOBS '8 


And  this  was  all  the  prayer  I  ever  mpxle.  There  is  nothing 
about  soul-salv  ion  in  that  prayer.  Some  pray  for  fish, 
or  ducks,  or  rabbits,  or  whatever  they  wish  to  get.        - 

At  length  the  missionary  came  and  began  to  preach 
about  Christ,  and  how  he  died  for  me ;  but  1  first  said, 
"  No ;  that  is  the  white  man's  Ood,  and  white  man's  reli- 
gion ;  and  that  God  would  not  have  anything  to  do  with 
the  Indians.*'  But  he  assured  me  Qod  would  save  me,  if  [ 
would  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  as  a  proof, 
he  read  portions  of  Scripture  to  me  again  and  again.  And 
then,  at  last,  I  begain  to  think  that  he  must  be  right,  and 
I  must  be  wrong,  because  he  read  the  "  book  of  God  "  (as 
we  call  the  Bible)  to  rae.  Then  I  began  to  pray,  for  the 
first  time,  in  English.  I  only  then  knew  a  few  words.  I 
said,  "  0  God,  be  merciful  to  me,  poor  Indian  boy,  great 
einner."  And  the  word  of  God  had  now  got  hold  of  ray 
heart,  but  it  made  me  feel  \^€ry  sick  in  my  heafJ.,  I  went 
to  bed,  and  I  could  not  sleep,  for  my  thoughts  troubled  me 
very  much.  Then  I  would  pray  the  r/ords  over  and  over 
again,  and  got  more  and  more  sick  in  my  heart.  I  was 
very  sorry  that  God  could  not  understand  my  Ojibway.  I 
thought  God  could  only  understand  English.  And  when  I 
was  praying  tears  came  spontaneously  from  my  eyes ;  and 
I  could  not  understand  this,  because  I  had  been  taught 
from  infancy  never  to  weep.  In  this  misery  I  passed  three 
or  four  weeks.  I  then  met  with  Peter  Jones,  who  was 
converted  a  few  months  before  me ;  and  to  my  surprise,  I 
heard  him  return  thanks  at  meal  in  Ojibway.  This  was 
quite  enough  for  me.  I  now  saw  f.hat  God  could  under- 
stand me  in  my  Ojibway,  and  therefore  went  far  into  the 
woods,  and  prayed,  in  the  Ojibway  tongue,  to  God,  and 
said :  "  0  God,  I  was  so  ignorant  and  blind  that  I  did  not 
know  that  thou  couldst  understand  my  Ojibway  tongue ! 
Now,  0  God,  I  beseech  thee  to  be  gracious  to  me,  a  sin- 
ner !  Take  away  this  sickness  that  I  now  feel  in  my  heart ; 
for  all  my  sins  lay  very  heavy  in  my  heart.  Send  now  thy 
Holy  Spirit  to  come  work  in  my  heart !  Let  the  blood  of 
Christ  be  now  applied  to  my  heart,  that  all  my  sins  may 
depart ! ". 

Though  I  could  now  pray  in  this  way  in  my  native  tongue, 
yet  God  did  not  seem  to  think  it  best  to  hear  my  prayers 
at  this  time,  but  left  me  to  pass  many  miserable  nights. 


,   'liii';i;-  !.^':  -';:£il-t-i';;-,-i!i'''v>-ii;  .■;:.:;■ 


I ^ 


niSTORV  OF  HIMSELF. 


And  I  cried  out  again  :  "  O  Qod,  I  will  not  let  thee  alone ! 
I  shall  trouble  thee  with  my  prayers  till  thou  bless  me!" 
And  at  last  Gcd  heard  my  prayers,  and  he  took  awav  this 
heavy  sickness  of  heart,  but  not  till  many  tears  had  been 
shed.  And  when  this  sickness  was  taken  away  from  my 
heart,  then  I  experienced  another  feeling,  which  was  "  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which  was  indeed  "full  of  glory."  My 
tongue  could  not  express  the  joy  I  then  felt.  I  could  say 
nothing  but,  "  Happy,  happy !  When  I  found  this  re- 
ligion of  Christ  so  sweet  in  the  heart  of  man,  I  wanted  all 
my  people  then  to  know  of  tho  great  and  true  God ;  but 
they  all  said.  No ;  that  I  was  wrong ;  that  I  had  been  to  the 
white  man's  Gor*  and  not  the  Saviour  of  the  Indians.  But 
I  said,  that  God  «vas  the  Saviour  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth ;  for  I  know  in  my  own  heart  what  be  has  done  for 
me  ;  and  what  he  has  doue  for  me  he  can  do  for  you.  And 
they  began  to  pray  for  mercy  and  the  forgiveness  of  their 
sins;  and  they,  praying  in  strong  faith,  many  of  them  were 
converted ;  and  now,  at  this  time,  there  are  hundreds  that 
are  converted  among  the  North  American  Indians,  I  was 
the  first  fruits  of  the  missionary  labors  in  my  tribe.  After 
was  I  converted,  I  became  a  prayer-leader,  and  afterward, 
when  the  Ind^  ns  were  fettled  in  houses,  I  became  a  class- 
leader,  then  a  loi  al  preacher. 

When  I  was  a  local  preacher,  I  used  to  preach  very 
long,  very  hard,  and  veiy  often.  Once  I  had  been  preach- 
ing till  eleven  at  night  to  the  converted  Indians  from  Lake 
Simcoe,  and  was  just  finishing,  when  the  Indians  said: 
"  When  we  were  heathen,  we  never  gave  up  drinking  the 
fire-waters  the  whole  night ;  and  why  should  we  now  go 
to  bed  ?  Why  should  we  not  go  on  sin<3fing,  and  praising 
God  till  daylight  ?  "  I  was  young  and  full  of  spirits ;  and 
though  I  had  just  done  preaching,  I  began  again,  and 
preached  a  great  part  of  the  night. 

After  their  conversion,  the  Indians  were  settling  in 
houses  ;  and  I  built  myself  a  large  house,  and  then  began 
to  keep  a  store,  and  made  a  comfortable  living  by  selling 
things;  but  I  wished  to  be  a  missionary  to  the  tribes  of 
Indians  who  had  not  heard  the  gospel ;  and  I  offered  myself 
for  the  mission  work,  and  was  accepted,  sold  off"  my  store, 
and  went  as  a  missionary. 

I  have  been  a  missionary  for  sixteen  years,    Twejvft 


•s, 


*  i 


O  PBTER  JAOOBB'B  BISTORT  OF  BIMBBLF. 

years  I  baye  been  in  the  Far  West,  among  the  Indians  in 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Territory.  ^<  ssi^r*^*' 

In  the  year  1842  I  came  to  England,  and  was  ordained 
in  the  Centenary -Hall,  and  in  1843  was  sent  back  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Territory.  I  cannot  tell  you  about  all  the 
tribes  of  Indians  that  I  have  visited,  it  would  take  too  long. 
I  have  preached  to  many  poor  Indians  in  their  heathen 
state,  and  they  have  become  Christians.  At  Norway  House 
I  first  formed  seven  classes,  and  helped  the  Indians  to  build 
eleven  houses;  kept  school  for  children  and  married 
women.  This  mission  is  now  one  of  the  best  in  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Territory.  There  are  more  than  three  hundred 
hearers,  fine  chapel,  and  eighty  children  in  the  school. 
Since  I  have  been  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Tc^iitory  thei-a 
has  been  slow  progress  made  among  the  Indianr.  There 
have  not  been  many  converts ;  but  the  Indians  are  not  so 
wicked  as  they  were.  I  am  now  going  back,  and  my  heart 
is  altogether  bent  to  go  to  Hudson's  Bay.     5n^     ^  U-.     .^.. 

;  '  /  "        '     PETER  JACOBS. 


,    V.,-  :^--v-/-'v^-^.>^A,v '-•:•,. 

>•  .      .^"  .S-   \^    ft    •-  f- 


-.A.i.,*'  •-    ..»{,  j^::. 


»%»■.,; 


•■•v  .1V 


■'/..,•'■ 


..»TJ, 


tiCw;i^:!.^<,i^-w;«,. 


■^•*''>^;^  -i 


>-'>^-     4: 


^■■\     '•;•■■        '.LWi 


".•■■    ■'■  .".<?''.     ■  •• 


JOURNAL 


■*«^.  i. 


■V  I- 


THE  EEV.  PETER  JACOBS. 


V^'..  ,.-^' 


'.•CfT' 


Thursdat,  Mat  6t]li,  1852. — ^This  morning  at  ten  o'clock 
I  left  this  fine  Wesleyan  Mission  at  Bice  Lake.  The  Indians 
of  this  mission  are  far  advanced  in  civilization ;  they  are  all 
dressed  like  Europeans ;  on  Smidays  the  congregation  dress 
very  well ;  the  women  have  fine  gowns  on,  &c. ;  and  the 
blanket,  which  they  formerly  used  as  an  article  of  dress,  is 
now  seen  no  longer,  but  is  exchanged  for  a  shawl.  There 
are  choirs  of  Indians  in  the  churches  who  sing  most  de- 
lightfully in  time  of  divine  service.  There  li  another  Wes- 
leyan Mission,  seven  miles  from  this,  which  is  in  a  high 
state  of  civilization ;  the  Indians  of  that  place  have  a  large 
academy,  built  of  brick,  where  yoimg  people  are  taught  to  be 
of  use  as  missionaries  or  teachers  in  their  country  hereafter. 
The  majority  of  these  people  are  teetotalers ;  they  take  no 
wine  or  beer.  The  Rice  Lake  itself  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  lakes  in  Canada  West ;  it  is  about  thirty  miles  in 
length  and  three  miles  in  breadth.  In  it  wild  rice  grows, 
and  consequently  a  great  many  wild  ducks  of  all  sorts  fre- 
quent the  lake.  This  is  therefore  a  great  nporting  place 
for  EngUsh  gentlemen.  In  its  waters  abound  muskinoonj, 
bahs,  eels,  and  other  sorts  of  fish  that  take  tbe  hook.  The 
lake  is  an  excellent  place  for  angling  snd  ti. filing;  very 
often  gentlemen  come  from  Boston,  New- York,  and  other 
cities,  to  amuse  themselves  in  angling  and  trolling  for  weeks 
together.  Also  in  the  forest  abound  deer,  pheasants,  tuid 
rabbits,  which  make  good  sport  for  a  marksman.  The 
land  around  this  lake  is  of  good  quality  and  very  richly 
timbered  with  all  sorts  of  vtduable  timber ;  it  is  well  set- 


0 


JOURNAL  OF  TH8 


tied  by  English  farmers,  many  of  whom  are  independent 
gentlemen.  On  the  north  Bide  of  this  beautiful  lake  is  an 
Indian  village,  which  is  situated  on  high  banks.  A  beauti- 
ful scenery  is  presented  to  the  traveler's  eye  from  this  vil- 
lage, and  the  whole  length  of  the  lake  can  be  seen  with  one 
glance  of  the  eye.  The  beautiful  scenery  that  this  lake 
presente  would  afford  abundant  matter  to  the  traveler  for 
exercising  his  poetical  powers.  There  are  four  little  steam- 
boats on  the  lake,  which  are  employed  in  bringing  goods 
from  village  to  village,  and  takmg  in  return  cargoes  of 
wheat  and  other  grain  from  Peterborough ;  some  of  them 
are  also  employed  in  bringing  boards  for  the  American 
market :  by  this  it  may  be  Been  that  the  country  and  the 
lake  have  great  resources.  -^  ./ ■  "r  ^^'     * 

At  12  o'clock  we  reached  Harris's  hotel,  and  landed 
there.  Mr.  Harris  himself  drove  us  in  his  carriage  to  Co- 
bourg,  which  is  twelve  miles  distant,  on  the  fine  plank  road. 
From  Cold  Springs  to  Cobourg  the  country  is  very  well 
settled,  and  many  farmers  live  on  the  road.  At  3  o'clock 
we  arrived  at  the  beautiful  town  of  Cobourg.  This  beauti- 
ful town  I  cannot  praise  too  highly ;  it  is  situated  on  ele- 
vated ground  and  is  very  healthy,  for  the  inhabitants  are 
refreshed  by  every  breeze  on*  wind  that  blows  on  Lake 
Ontario.  In  this  place  are  many  fine  churches,  belonging 
to  different  denominations,  and  on  the  height  of  the  bank, 
at  the  north  end  of  the  town,  stands  conspicuously  the 
beautiful  college  called  Victoria  College,  belonging  to  the 
great  body  of  Wesleyans.  Within  its  walls  at  the  present 
time  are  about  seventy  students.  This  excellent  college 
has  already  produced  many  eminent  men ;  and  God  grant 
that  it  may  produce  more  excellent  statesmen  and  minis- 
ters who  shall  be  an  honor  to  the  province.  At  seven 
o'clock  we  started  in  a  steamer  for  Toronto,  and  arrived 
there  during  the  night. 

Friday,  *Jih,  1852. — I  went  about  from  place  to  place, 
getting  a  few  things  for  my  use  in  my  long  voyage.  The 
city  of  Toronto  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  cities  of  Canada 
West;  it  is  still  rising,  and  will  continue  to  do  so;  the 
buildings  are  generally  of  brick.  The  principal  street  for- 
merly was  King-street,  but  there  are  now  many  other 
beautiful  streets,  especially  Yonge-street.  There  are  many 
fine  large  irholesala  stores,  as  well  as  many  fine  retaU 


Li  i?'^''' 


A 


'Tt^^^'-'  ....■■.  j?,"^^s:?;: 


RBV.  PBTBR  JACOBS. 


stores.  In  the  city  are  four  WesleyAn  churches,  and  a  few 
small  chapels  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  ;  there  are  also  many 
churches  of  other  denominations;  there  are  two  or  three 
collenres,  and  also  normal,  model,  and  common  schools.  -'^ 
r  The  land  extending  one  hundred  miles  around  this  city 
is  excellent,  rich,  and  well  covered  with  valuable  timber ; 
the  farmers  that  live  here  are  as  happy  as  princes. 

In  the  afternoon,  at  two  o'clock,  I  met  the  Rev.  Enoch 
Wood,  and  he  gave  me  £26  in  cash  for  my  traveling  ex- 
penses ;  and  after  I  received  \i[s  blessing  and  prayers  for 
my  safety  and  preservation  in  the  journey,  I  parted  with 
him. 

Saturday,  6th. — I  was  accompanied  thus  far  by  my  wife 
Elizabeth,  and  my  daughter  Mary,  and  the  little  baby,  and 
my  brother-in-law,  Andrew  Anderson,  and  at  seven  o'clock 
this  morning,  after  commending  each  other  to  God's  care, 
we  parted.  My  wife  and  family  then  took  a  steamer  for 
Cobourg  and  the  Rice  Lake.  I  myself  went  in  the  steamer 
for  Niagara  Falls,  and  the  Lake  Ontario  being  calm,  we 
were  soon  over  the  lake,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  we  arrived 
at  the  old  English  town  of  Niagara.  On  each  side  of  the 
river  there  is  a  garrison,  one  belonging  to  the  English  and 
the  other  to  the  Americans.  All  the  soil  of  the  Nip.gara 
district  is  rich,  and  the  timber  is  valuable  that  grows  here, 
such  as  the  black  walnut  and  the  cherry  ;  when  the  black 
walnut  is  sawed  into  boards  it  makes  chests  of  drawers  and 
tables,  and  beautiful  doors  for  the  houses  of  the  rich  ;  and 
when  cherry  trees  are  sawn,  the  wood  appears  like  mahog- 
any. There  is  the  sugar  maple,  the  beech,  and  the  hick- 
ory, and  also  the  sassafras,  which  has  a  pleasant  scent. 

At  one  o'clock  we  arrived  at  Queenston,  and  took  the 
stages  for  the  Falls,  where  we  arrived  soon  after  two 
o'clock.  Here  we  spent  two  hours,  and  afterward  I  went 
down  to  see  the  greatest  fall  in  the  world.  The  cataract  is 
indeed  awfully  grand ;  and  it  appeared  to  me  as  if  an  angry 
God  was  dwelling  bene&»h  iU  for  my  whole  frame  shook  as 
a  leaf  while  I  was  viewing  these  mighty  angry  Falls.  Now 
it  is  no  wonder  that  my  forefathere,  in  by-gone  days,  should 
offer  up  sacrifices  at  the  foot  of  these  Falls;  they  used  to 
come  and  pray  to  the  God  of  the  fall  to  bless  them  in  their 
hunt  and  to  prolong  their  life  and  that  of  their  children ; 
for  every  Indian  believed  that  a  God  dwelt  under  this 


w 


JOURNAL   OF  THK 


mighty  sheet  of  water ;  but  latterly  the  Wesleyan  mission- 
aries have  taught  them  better  things,  and  told  them  that 
no  God  dwelt  there,  but  pointing  up  to  heaven,  directed 
them  to  pray  to  him  that  dwells  there.  They  now  no 
longer  come  to  pray  to  the  God  of  the  fall,  but  are  found 
daily  on  their  knees  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  pray- 
ing through  him  that  God  might  be  merciful  unto  them 
sinners,  and  keep  them  in  his  own  care.      f*'^mi^'^^i;!ir\^c^ 

In  conclusion,  I  would  just  say  that  English  gentlemen 
and  ladies  would  be  well  repaid  if  they  would  come  and 
see  the  Falls  of  Niagara  while  they  are  in  America.  There 
are  five  or  six  large  hotels  by  the  Falls,  some  of  which  will 
contain  about  two  hundred  boarders ;  and  there  are  also 
hotels  of  smaller  classes,  so  that  a  gentleman  can  be 
boarded  at  from  one  dollar  to  four  dollars  a  day ;  for  these 
large  hotels  are  as  fashionable  and  as  great  as  any  of  the 
fashionable  hotels  in  the  city  of  New-York. 

At  four  o'clock,  took  the  railway  cars,  and  reached  Buf- 
falo in  a  very  short  time.  I  passed  over  soil  very  rich  and 
well  timbered.  The  city  of  Buffalo  is  a  very  important 
and  flourishing  city :  it  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  it  has  a  very  fine  harbor,  where  all  the  western  vessels 
and  steamers  come :  more  than  a  dozen  steamers  leave  its 
wharves  every  day ;  that  is  to  say,  morning  and  evening. 
The  great  Erie  Canal  ends  here,  and  the  New- York  and 
Albany  Railroad  ends  here  also ;  and  there  are  other  rail- 
roads that  end  here.  There  is  a  railroad  that  comes  from 
the  Southern  States,  and  there  is  another  that  goes  through 
the  city  of  Cleveland  and  other  cities  of  the  West  to  Cin- 
cinnati, so  that  the  city  of  Buffalo  is  becoming  an  import- 
ant city :  it  is  a  great  city  of  business.  The  main  street 
of  Buffalo  is  a  beautiful  street,  and  there  are  many  fine 
buildings  there,  and  many  churches  of  different  denomina- 
tions, three  of  which  belong  to  the  Episcopal  Methodbts. 
I  put  up  at  the  Western  Hotel. 

Sunday,  9th. — At  eleven  o'clock,  I  went  to  one  of  the 
Methodist  chapels,  and  at  three  o'clock  I  went  to  the  same 
chapel.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening^  I  preached  in  the 
stone  church  called  the  Niagara  Church,  to  the  edification 
of  a  large  congregation.  After  divine  service  many  of  the 
principal  men  of  the  congregation  gave  me  thanks  for  my 
preaching,  and  the  minister  s^  to  me  that  he  had  never 


i  i 


!?*:- 


RXV.   PBTKR  JACOBS. 


11 


heard  an  Indian  preach  like  me,  and  that  I  was  a  mat 
orator :  however,  I  did  not  stand  up  to  dispute  with  him,  I 
just  allowed  him  to  tell  his  own  opinions  freely.  It  ap- 
pears that  two  Babbaths  before  this  the  Rev.  Peter  Jones 
preached  in  the  sane  church,  and  the  minister  told  me 
that  the  first  part  of  my  sermon  was  very  much  like  his. 

Monday,  \Oth. — In  the  evening  at  eight  o'clock,  after 
the  railway  cars  came  in  from  New- York  and  Albany,  I 
weni  on  board  the  Ocean  steamer,  which  had  about  three 
hundred  passengers — gentlemen  and  ladies.  The  steam- 
ers, especially  the  Mayflower,  that  run  in  connection  with 
the  railroads  of  the  AVest,  are  most  splendid  and  highly 
finished  steamers ;  their  cabins  'e  like  palace-parlors.  At 
nine  o'clock  our  Ocean  began  to  more  through  fields  of 
broken  ice.  I  was  very  much  afraid  that  her  paddles 
would  be  broken ;  however,  we  got  through  safely.  The 
steamer  then  ran  through  the  middle  of  Lake  Erie  all  night 
and  half  a  day  without  staying  at  any  harbor,  until  we 
reached  the  city  of  Detroit,  which  is  about  three  hundred 
miles.  The  passengers  in  the  steamer  were  so  numerous 
that  they  comd  not  all  come  to  the  first  table.  At  meal 
times  some  gentlemen,  fearing  that  they  could  not  come  to 
the  first  taUe,  practiced  this  artifice.  They  generally  took 
up  a  newspaper  and  began  to  read,  in  pretence  of  being 
deeply  engaged  in  reading,  and  seated  themselves  in  front 
of  the  plates,  and  so  be  in  readiness  when  the  signal  would 
be  ^ven,  to  take  their  seats  at  the  table ;  but  notwithstand- 
ing their  acuteness  they  would  sometimes  lose  their  seats 
and  plates  in  the  following  manner :  The  ladies  (thesn  lower 
angels)  as  everybody  knows,  must  have  then:  seats  pro- 
vided for  them  at  all  risks,  as  the  waiters  always  informed 
the  ladies  first  when  the  meals  were  ready,  and  afterward 
the  gentlemen ;  but  sometimes  a  few  of  the  ladies  were  a 
few  minutes  too  late;  and  a  gentleman  who  had  been 
hitherto  seated  comfortably  before  a  dish  of  some  rich  sort, 
hearing  the  approaching  steps  cS.  a  lady  and  the  rustling 
of  a  silk  gown,  jumps  up  on  his  two  feet,  and  to  show  that 
he  is  a  highly  polished  gentleman,  he  offers  the  lady  his 
seat  and  walks  away,  as  many  do,  grudgingly,  to  wait  a 
long  hour  for  the  next  table.  But  on  these  occasions, 
when  I  find  myself  seated  so  comfortably,  I  generally  ap- 
pear to  be  deaf  to  the  sound  of  the  approaching  steps  of 


-m 


12 


JOURNAL  OF  TUB 


these  lower  angels,  and  hasten  to  get  somu  article  on  my 
plate,  and  begin  to  eat  a  mouthful  or  two,  that  none  of 
these  beauties  would  desire  to  take  my  seat  and  plate. 
The  victuals  that  lay  on  the  table  were  of  all  sorts,  and  the 
sweetmeats  were  too  various  to  enumerate ;  all  that  I  can 
say  about  them  is  that  they  were  very  fine. 

I  know  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  well  on  the  British  and 
American  sides.  They  incline  to  be  flat.  The  soil  is  of 
clay,  and  some  parts  of  it  are  sandy ;  but,  taking  it  alto- 
gether, both  sides  of  the  lake  are  good  agricultural  coun- 
tries, and  heavily  timbered.  In  its  forests,  timber  is  found 
of  all  sorts.  There  are  a  few  ports  on  the  British  side,  and 
small  villages ;  but,  ''■n  the  American  side,  ports  are  more 
numerous.  There  are  even  two  or  three  cities.  The  city 
of  Cleveland  is  the  most  beautiful  city  on  Lake  Erie.  It  is 
situated  on  a  high  bank,  and  has  a  fine  view  of  Lake  Erie. 
Canals  and  railroads  come  into  this  city  from  all  parts  of 
the  country,  as  well  as  vessels  and  steamers.  This  city  is 
doing  a  great  deal  of  business.  There  are  other  small 
cities  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  belonging  to  the  Americans. 
The  lake  itself  is  very  shallow,  and,  consequently,  when 
the  wind  blows  high  it  is  very  rough.  Its  waters  abound 
with  white  fish,  salmon  trout,  and  other  fish.  The  best 
sorts  of  fish  a^e  the  white  fish  and  trout.  The  entrance 
of  Detroit  River  is  garrisoned  by  the  British.  The  village 
and  the  garrison  are  called  Amherstburgh.  The  scenery 
around  this  village  is  beautiful,  and  the  country  is  level, 
and  abounds  with  timber  of  all  sorts.  The  whole  length 
of  Detroit  River  is  beautiful,  and  the  country  on  each  side 
of  it  is  picturesque,  especially  the  Canadian  side.  The 
river  is  about  thirty  or  forty  miles  in  length,  and  is  a  beau- 
tiful river.  Now  comes  the  city  of  Detroit.  It  was  for- 
merly a  French  city,  but  now  it  belongs  to  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  is  the  capital  of  Michigan.  It  has  many  fine 
buildings  and  many  fine  streets.  It  is  becoming  very  im- 
portant, and  is  a  great  city  of  business  in  the  West.  The 
railroad  U  Chicago  begins  here,  so  that  one  going  thither 
might  go  by  the  railroad,  or  around  by  the  lakes  in  a  steamer. 
The  word  Chicago  is  a  corrv.ptible  form  of  the  word  She- 
kakong,  which  means  the  *'  place  of  a  shunk."    . 

Opposite  Detroit  is  a  little  village  called  Sandwich,  on 
the  British  side,  where  there  is  a  British  post-office.    The 


■C 


KSV.    PRXR  JAOOIU). 


18 


country  around  it  appears  to  be  a  fine  farming  country; 
all  the  ground  in  the  district  of  Detroit  is  flat,  and  the 
land  is  well  timbered  with  all  sorts  of  timber,  but  it  is  a 
very  bad  country  for  the  fever.  If  any  person  wishes  to 
catch  it  he  may  go  there  in  summer. 

Wedneadap,  12th. — Remained  all  day  in  the  city,  saw 
nothing  worth  relating;  but  I  shall  relate  the  following 
circumstance.    As  I  was  pasang  one  of  the  grog-shops  in 
the  streets  I  heard  a  man  talk  very  roughly,  and  he  swore 
to  the  master  of  the  house  that  if  he  did  not  give  him  an- 
other glass  of  whisky,  he  would  lay  him  flat  on  the  ground 
in  two  seconds ;  the  landlord  replied, "  Not  a  drop  will  you 
get."    The  tall  Yankee  that  I  now  got  a  si^  it  of,  cursed 
and  swore  at  the  master  that  if  he  did  not  give  him  another 
glass  he  would  flatten  him  like  a  pancake  in  two  seconds, 
at  the  same  time  showing  his  fist,  now  holding  it  near  the 
end  of  the  mastei''s  nose.    The  tall  Yankee  thc^  said, "  You 
are  an  ungrateful  being,  I  have  spent  many  dollars  here, 
and  you  will  not  give  me  another  glass;"    the  landlord 
then  said,  "No."     He  was  of  very  Uttle  stature,  and  the 
Yankee  could  have  had  no  trouble  in  giving  the  landlord  a 
good  thrashing.   However,  1  >e  was  j  nst  going  to  pounce  upon 
him  when  a  servant  man  came  out  from  one  of  the  rooms, 
and  said  to  the  tall  Yankee,  '*  I  suess  you  better  walk  out  of 
this."    The  tall  Yankee  showed  his  nst  again,  and  the  ser- 
vant by  thb  time  got  hold  of  him  by  the  collar,  and  drag- 
ged him  out  to  the  street  and  gave  him  a  blow  under  the 
ear,  which  stupefied  the  tall  Yankee,  and  made  him  stand 
speechless  for  a  k>ng  time.     This  was  all  that  was  done 
unto  him,  and  he  never  spoke  again,  but  quietly  walked 
away.    I  think  that  the  blow  did  him  a  great  deal  of  good. 
~    Thtirsday,  Idth. — Before  daylight  our  steamer  London 
was  off,  and  passed  the  little  Lake  St.  Glair,  before  I  was  from 
my  cabin  for  breakfast.    The  Lake  St.  Clair  is  a  small  lake, 
of  about  thirty  or  more  miles  in  circumference ;  all  its  banks 
are  very  low,  but  the  land  is  good  and  heavily  timbered. 
There  are  many  farms  around  the  lake.    The  St.  Clair 
River  is  a  very  fine  river ;  it  has  very  fine  banks ;  the  land 
is  good  and  possesses  much  valuable  timber  of  all  sorts. 
The  only  famt  about  the  country  further  back  is,  that  it 
inclines  to  be  swampy.     In  the  interior  the  inhabitants 
suffer  much  m  the  summer  from  fever  and  ague.   Thousands, 


i:      '  :," 


.•8 


'  \ 


14 


JOURNAL  OV  THB 


U    .-  SA. 


and  I  may  say  millions  of  all  kinds  of  fish  abound  in  the 
river ;  the  fish  are  caught  by  means  of  the  spear,  the  hook, 
the  net,  and  seine.  In  the  woods  further  bacM  from  the  rirer 
abound  deer,  bears,  rabbits,  elks,  partridges,  wild  turkeys, 
and  other  animals.  The  marshes  aoound  with  ducks  llie 
St.  Clair  River  is  about  uxty  miles  in  length,  and  it  has 
mary  fine  vilWes  on  each  side  of  the  river.  Farmers  set- 
tle on  both  si(&s.  The  east  side  belongs  to  the  English, 
and  the  west  to  the  Americans.  The  river  runs  from  north 
to  south.  By  the  appearance  of  the  houses  the  farmers 
are  well  off.  The  whole  of  the  country  that  I  have  now 
traveled  over  for  three  hundred  miles,  is  very  good  for  wheat 
and  other  grain,  wild  and  cultivated  fruits  of  all  sorts,  such 
as  apples,  peaches  and  plums ;  and  there  are  also  in  some 

{)arts  of  the  Western  Province  wild  crab-apples.  At  the  in- 
et  of  the  River  of  St.  Clair  are  two  villages,  the  English 
village  is  called  Port  Samia,  but  the  American  villi^e  op- 
posite is  much  larger  than  the  English.  On  the  English 
side,  adjoining  Port  Samia,  we  have  an  Indian  Wesleyan 
Mission ;  as  the  steamboat  went  along  close  by  the  Indian 
Mission,  I  perceived  that  the  Indians,  and  then*  wives,  and 
their  children,  appeared  to  be  well  dressed.  They  were 
busily  employed  in  their  agricultural  operations,  and  some 
of  them  were  collecting  wood  for  the  steamboats.  The  In- 
dians appear  to  be  well  off.  I  should  have  been  glad  to 
have  spent  a  day  with  them.  St.  Clair  village  appears  to 
be  healthy,  as  it  is  daily  refreshed  by  the  breezes  that  Mow 
on  Lake  Huron.  The  clay  of  the  land  is  mixed  with  sand. 
About  a  mile  from  this  village,  toward  the  lake,  there  are 
beautiful  sandy  pluns,  with  a  few  oak  trees  standing  here 
and  there ;  it  would  be  an  excellent  place  for  a  ^enUeman 
to  live  in.  At  the  entrance  oi  the  river  is  a  beautiful  sandy 
beach,  where  the  fishermen  catch  thousands  and  thousands 
of  white  fish  in  the  fall.  On  the  east  side  of  Lake  Huron, 
that  is  toward  the  town  of  Goderich  and  Saugeens,  I  have 
traveled  by  land,  and  I  found  the  sonl  very  good.  The  trees 
that  grow  on  it  are  the  oak,  beech,  maple,  pine,  and  other 
trees,  which  make  valuable  timber.  This  is  a  fine  country 
for  farmers.  The  country  generally  inclines  to  be  flat,  but 
on  the  American  side,  which  runs  north-west,  the  land 
is  excellent,  and  much  heavy  timber  is  obtained  from  the 
land,  ■(■  ^-1':^^^  '^!-^!^^'i^^'^'^v0^'^t^^^»:^Bti-^ 


<44»><(i-,'' 


REV.  PBTBR  JACOBS. 


10 


*  At  6  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  were  fairly  out  to  sea,  and 
our  steamer  ran  all  riffht.     The  night  was  verj  calm. 

Friday,  lith.  Calm  day.  Our  steamer  made  grcai 
progress.  We  saw  the  land  all  day  on  the  left  at  a  dis- 
tanoe.  At  4  o'clock  we  were  near  Mackinaw,  and  mot  a 
heavy  fog.  Mackinaw  comes  from  an  Indian  word  Meshen* 
emahkenoong,  the  immtmse  turtle.  On  account  of  the 
heavy  fog  our  steamer  lost  its  way,  and  was  wandering 
about  during  the  night. 

Saturday,  IBth,  1852.  When  it  became  clear  in  the 
morning  we  were  near  Mackinaw;  the  passengers  were 
fflad  that  they  did  not  run  ashore  during  the  night.  Mack< 
maw  is  a  hiffh,  splendid  island  ;  many  parts  of  it  are  more 
than  a  hundred  feet  hiffh,  and  some  parts  are  very  preci* 
pitous.  The  top  of  the  island  is  flat,  and  is  good  for 
farming.  There  is  an  American  garrison  on  the  summit. 
The  town  of  Mackinaw  lies  in  a  bay  at  the  foot  of  the  high 
ground.  The  lower  classes  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  island 
support  themselves  principally  b;^  fishing ;  for  white  fish 
and  salmon  trout  are  caugnt  here  in  gnat  abundance  in  all 
seasons  of  the  year,  and  especially  m  the  fall.  The  town 
has  a  few  stores  and  gros-shops,  and  there  is  a  new  hotel 
at  the  old  Presbyterian  Mission  at  the  point.  There  is  a 
Romish  church  here  and  a  Presbyterian  cnurch.  Travelers, 
when  they  are  on  the  summit  of  the  island,  have  a  most 
splendid  view  of  the  straits  of  Michigan,  and  the  shores  and 
islands  on  the  west ;  and  on  the  east  side  they  have  a  fine 
view  of  Lake  Huron  and  its  islands.  There  is  a  breeze 
constantly  passing  and  repassing  over  the  island.  This  is 
the  place  for  invmids  to  come  and  improve  their  health. 

We  were  at  this  beautiful  harbor  for  an  hour,  and  the 
men  took  in  their  wood  for  the  boat ;  after  this,  we  were 
off  again  for  the  Sault.  When  we  were  about  eight  miles 
from  Mackinaw,  toward  the  east,  we  beheld  a  steamer 
in  a  bay  in  difficulty.  Her  bows  were  high  and  dry  upon 
the  sandy  beach ;  she  raised  a  signal  of  distress  for  our 
steamer,  and  when  we  arrived  there  most  of  the  passengers, 
and  especially  the  females,  were  cr3nng.  I  do  not  suppose 
they  knew  why  they  cried.  After  a  loss  of  time  for  an 
hour,  the  London  steamer  got  the  other  steamer  off  by  the 
use  of  her  cable  ropes  and  chains.  The  steamer  had  about 
three  hundred  passengers ;  she  was  one  of  the  large  steam- 

3 


JOURNAL  or   TIIK 


i 


f 


en,  >Vbon  thev  were  off,  they  gave  our  captain  ihree 
cheers.  Poor  fellows !  They  then  went  away  to  Chicago. 
It  is  said  by  the  passengers  that  our  captain  will  get  about 
four  hundred  dollars  for  his  trouble.  t 

At  noon  we  rounded  the  detour,  on  the  west  side  of 
Drummond's  Island,  which  is  about  thirty  miles  from 
Mackinaw,  and  forty  miles  from  the  Sault.  The  islundn 
now  assume  a  difterent  aspect  from  what  we  were  accus- 
tomed to  see  of  fine  rich  lands.  At  this  place,  wherever 
you  direct  your  eye,  you  see  the  granit.e  stones  showing 
their  teeth  to  you ;  and  the  timber  that  you  see  is  scrubby 
pine,  poplar,  and  white  birch.  I  ha\\,  traveled  again  and 
again  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  and  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  that  the  islands  and  the  main  land  on  this  side  are 
nothing  but  barren  rocks.  Very  little  ^ood  soil,  if  there  is 
any,  is  found  in  the  valleys.  Manitouhn  Island  is  the  only 
exception  to  the  bad  land,  and  it  is  only  the  soil  on  the 
east  half  side  of  the  island  which  is  good.  Maple  and 
other  hard  timber  grow  on  thii  island.  It  is  about  seventy 
miles  in  length.  The  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  the 
Romish  Church,  have  missions  on  the  good  part  of  the 
island.  At  the  Church  Mission,  in  one  of  the  bays  of  the 
island,  are  government  stores,  and  a  government  Indian 
Agent  resides  here,  who  gives  annual  presents  to  the  In- 
dians, who  assemble  in  hundreds  at  this  place.  The  In- 
dians subsist  by  fishing  in  the  summer,  and  procuring  furs 
in  the  winter,  which  they  give  in  exchange  for  clothing. 

We  now  passed  on  the  south  side  of  St.  Joseph's  Island, 
which  is  about  thirty  miles  in  length.  Some  parts  of  the 
soil  are  good,  maple  and  other  hard  timber  growing  there- 
on ;  but  other  parts  are  rocky  and  mountainous.  One  Ma- 
jor Raines  and  some  other  gentlemen  are  trying  to  colonize 
'te  lands.  The  Indians  say  that  the  mountains  of  this  isl- 
nd  have  rich  copper  mines,  but  th^y  do  not  show  the  veins 
of  copper  ore  to  the  white  roan  for  fear  of  making  the  god 
of  the  copper  mine  angry,  and  thus  losing  their  lives  by  it. 
The  Indians  are  very  superstitious  respecting  all  mines,  for 
they  believe  that  there  is  a  god  over  every  mine.  On  one 
of  the  beautiful  points  of  the  island  there  stands  the  re- 
mains of  an  old  British  fort:  this  must  have  been  a  fine 
place  when  the  troops  were  here.  We  now  passed  by  many 
inferior  islands ;  and  I  found  the  country  had  a  dismal  ap- 


RBV.    PBTBR  JACOBS. 


IT 


pearancc.  At  sunset  we  reached  the  Garden  River ;  and 
iiere  the  Wesleyans  are  forming  an  Indian  Mission,  and 
there  are  already  many  little  nouses  on  the  banks,  and 
many  little  gardens.  I  think  in  a  few  years  this  will  be  an 
important  mission.  About  two  or  three  miles  back  from 
the  mission  there  are  mountainous  places,  jutting  out  their 
ruirged  peaks,  which  seem  to  defy  the  farmer,  and  say, 
"  There  is  no  farming  here."  .  *  ^?h^ 

At  9  o'clock  we  anchored  at  the  American  town  of  St. 
Mary's,  which  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary's. 
The  new  town  of  St.  Mary's  is  rising  very  fast  and  becom- 
ing important.  It  has  improved  very  much  since  I  was 
here,  in  1886,  as  missionary  to  the  Sault  Indians,  on  the 
American  side.  I  was  glad  to  find  many  of  my  old  con- 
verts here,  and  that  they  were  still  faithful,  and  serving 
the  Lord  their  God.  Their  mission  has  been  removed  from 
the  Sault  to  a  place  ten  miles  above  it,  where  the  Indians 
are  now  cultivating  the  soil.  The  town  of  St.  Mary's  has  a 
few  larffe  stores  and  many  small  ones,  two  fine  hotels, 
and  a  few  inns  and  spiall  grc^-shops.  The  missionaries 
here  are  Episcopal  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Romish  priests. 
The  American  government  are  proposing  to  make  a  canal 
here,  which  will  be  about  three  Quarters  of  a  mile  in  length. 
The  canal  is  to  be  one  hundred  feet  wide  at  the  surface, 
seventy- five  at  bottom,  and  twelve  feet  deep ;  there  are  to 
be  two  locks,  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  length 
and  seventy -five  feet  in  width.  The  probable  cost  will  be  fess 
than  half  a  million  of  dollars.  The  rapids,  or  as  it  is  called 
the  Fall  of  St.  Mary's,  has  a  descent  of  twenty-one  feet. 
Canoes  and  boats  can  run  down  the  rapids  without  any 
harm.  The  width  of  these  rapids  is  nearly  one  mile.  Near 
the  foot  of  the  fall  there  is  an  excellent  fishery ;  Indians 
and  half-breeds  scoop  the  finest  white  fish  in  all  the  seasons 
of  the  year.  They  are  the  most  excellent  fish  in  the  coun- 
try. O  how  I  feasted  on  them  whild  I  remained  here ! 
The  Indians  and  half-breeds  make  a  great  deal  of  money 
by  their  fish.  The  Honorable  Hudson^  Bay  Company  have 
an  establishment  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  One  or 
two  or  more  steamers,  as  well  as  sailing  vessels,  come  here 
once  every  week,  from  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Detroit,  and  Pen- 
etanguishine,  or  Penahtahwahngosheeng,  the  latter  being 
an  Indian  word,  meaning  the  tumbling  sand-banks.     Our 


ri 


Lf::?^v:-'L,'.:.: 


,i-  r\.:.M-. 


jy^-.-J*;.  ■  :■ 


■"•'■■"',v:j  ' 


■-,yj 


Id 


JOURKAL  OF  THE 


6teamer  London  landed  here  one  hundred  and  fifty  passen- 
gers, and  the  majority  of  them  have  gone  to  the  mines  of 
Lake  Superior. 

The  population  of  those  now  engaged  in  the  mines^  of 
Lake  Superior  is  eight  thousand,  and  one  thousand  are  in 
commercial  business.    This  is  very  well  for  Lake  Superior. 

Sunday,  IQth, — I  went  to  hear  the  Episcopal  clergyman, 
Dr.  Omeara,  preach  this  mommg ;  he  read  his  sermon,  so 
and  so.  He  is  rather  defective  in  his  delivery.  In  the 
evening  I  gave  a  short  exhortation  to  those  who  were 
present  in  the  same  chapel.  It  rained  very  hard  in  the 
evening,  and  the  whole  of  the  next  day — that  is  the  17  th — 
so  that  I  saw  very  Uttlo  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie  that  day.  The 
Methodist  clergyman  of  this  place  is  a  good  man :  he  is 
the  superintendent  of  the  Indian  Missions  in  these  parts. 
He  was  just  now  about  to  take  a  tour  to  visit  his  missions 
on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  Fondulac,  Sandy 
Lake,  and  Red  Lake.        .;'^-,  ^^-^■^'-t*,^rtv'^4;^,  ^>?-; 

Tuesday,  ISth. — The  day  was  j3ne.  I  dined  with  John 
Johnston,  Esquire,  and  his  lady,  and  I  found  them  H^fable 
and  kind.  Tliis  John  Johnston  is  a  son  of  the  late  great 
John  Johnston  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  After  dinner,  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  canoes  arrived.  The  number  of  men  iu  the 
cajoes  was  about  thirty ;  they  Lad  a  young  clerk  with  them 
named  Mr.  Taylor. 

Wednesday t  \9th. — At  ten  o'clock  I  left  my  hotel  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  went  over  to  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  House,  and  after  being  furnished 
with  provisions,  we  were  at  the  further  side  of  the  Portage 
at  two  o'clock.  The  number  of  passengers  now  in  the 
canoes,  excluding  myself,  was  two,  viz :  Francis  Ermatinger, 
Esquire,  chief  trader,  and  young  Mr.  Taylor.  The  Cana- 
dians and  Iriquois  now  pushed  off  and  gave  us  some  of 
their  beautiful  Canadian  sanoe  songs.  We  encamped  at  a 
place  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  Sault,  called  Point  Pine. 
This  was  a  fine  encampment  for  us.  The  soil  of  this  place 
is  of  light  sand,  and  the  timber  is  nothing  but  pine ;  and 
indeed  I  may  say  here  in  my  Journal — Farewell,  ye  beauti- 
ful lands  of  Canada,  we  shall  not  see  you  for  many  a  long 
day. 

Thursday ,  ^Oth. — At  four  o'clock  we  started,  and  break- 
fasted at  the  Gros  Cap,  eighteen  miles  from  our  encamp- 


W.-i-'S 


BBV.  PSTBB  JACOBS. 


10 


merit.  It  it  the  first  point  that  projects  out  into  the  lake, 
and  it  has  a  beautiful  mountain  on  it.  Many  gentlemen 
and  ladies  come  here  to  the  mountain  to  have  a  view  of  the 
splendid  Lake  Superior,  and  then  return  to  their  eastern 
homes.  After  breakfast,  the  men  pulled  away  across  a 
long  traverse  of  fifteen  miles,  called  Gooley's  Bay,  and  dined 
on  an  island  in  the  traverse.  After  dinner,  we  hoisted  sail, 
and  sailed  very  well  this  day.  At  five  o'clock  we  pussed 
the  Lake  Superior  mines ;  and  there  we  saw  twanty  or 
thirty  houses,  one  or  two  of  which  ste  very  large.  At  ueven 
o'clock  we  went  into  Montreal  River,  and  encamped  in  it. 
We  made  about  sixty  miles  this  day.  The  face  of  the 
country  is  a  moss  of  rocks;  we  passed  very  little  good 
land  to-day:  at  Gooley*s  Bay  we  saw  some  good  land, 
for  there  are  sugar  maple  trees  growing  there ;  and  tiie 
Indians  of  this  part  make  a  great  deal  of  sugar  in  the 
spring.  A  great  m^nj  ^^  are  caught  by  the  Indians 
here.  They  employ  different  ways  to  twee  them,  namely,  by 
means  of  nets  in  the  fall ;  and  by  spearing  them,  and  angling 
in  the  winter,  in  holes  made  in  the  ice. 

Friday t  2\8t, — ^Windbound  here  till  noon :  we  found  the 
time  very  long ;  the  half  day  appeared  to  be  as  long  as  two 
days.  The  men  were  grumbling  and  complainioff,  and  they 
seemed  to  be  the  most  miserable  of  all  men.  They  were 
saying  one  to  another  about  the  guide :  *'  Why  not  go  at 
once  ?  "  But  our  guide  was  a  trusty  man ;  he  would  not 
let  them  go  until  he  thought  it  safe  for  them  to  go.  ^fter 
dinner  the  guide  gave  the  word  to  go,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
we  were  agaiu  afioat  on  the  lake,  rolling  up  and  down  on  its 
waves.  When  we  got  ofS  about  fifteen  miles  from  our  en- 
campment, the  sea  and  the  wind  began  to  rise  higher  and 
higher;  and  as  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  on  land  were 
very  steep,  the  sea  dashed  its  waves  against  the  rocks,  and 
it  became  vet y  rough.  The  canoe  jumped  so  high,  and 
went  down  again  on  the  water,  that  I  was  a^d  something 
v6ry  serious  would  happen  io  the  canoe.  We  were  in  this 
condition  for  half  an  hour.  The  danger  was  very  great ; 
.and  I  am  not  one  of  those  cowards  that  are  afraid  when 
there  is  a  little  ruffling  in  the  water,  but  I  have  been  fre- 
quently called  the  brave  voyager.  As  we  were  passing 
along  the  rocks,  one  or  two  waves  dashed  into  our  canoe, 
so  that  one  of  the  men  was  constantly  bailing  out  the  water. 


20 


JOUBITAL  or  TBB 


li 


H: 


ii,,, 


We  were  nof  in  iTaikgef  of  upsetting,  but  we  were  afraid  that 
the  bark  at  the  bottom  of  the  canoe  would  break,  as  it 
fiometimet  happeng  to  the  canoe  in  a  heavy  gale  in  this  fresh 
water  sea.  We  encamped  for  the  evening  near  the  moun- 
tains, and  point  called  by  the  Indians  Nanahboshoo.  We 
only  made  thirty-five  miles  this  day.  The  conversation  this 
evening  was  about  the  danger  of  to-day.  It  appears  that 
the  men  in  the  other  canoes  were  aa  afraid  as  our  men. 
Our  n«w  hands,  called  Pork  Eaters,  said,  they  thought  they 
would  be  drowned.  It  must  be  remembered  that  we  had 
three  canoes  in  an.    .u.Y:':  ''''^"  ^^■"■■•K/^.  ^ 

There  is  a  large  stcriiM  here,  near  tlhe  Ifanaht>oshoo  Moun- 
tains, which  i»  tery  remarkable.  The  stone  looks  as  if 
some  man  had  aet  on  the  rock  and  made  an  impression  on 
it,  as  one  would  on  the  snow  in  winter.  This  was  not 
earved  by  any  Indian,  but  it  is  very  natuiaL  The  impres- 
sion is  very  Isu^e,  and  is  about  six  times  as  lurge  as  an  im- 
pression made  in  the  snow  by  a  man.  The  Indians  say 
that  Nanahboshoo,  a  god,  sat  here  long  Bi/go,  and  smoked, 
and  that  he  left  it  for  the  west.  Every  time  the  Indians 
pasa  here,  they  leave  tobacco  at  the  stone,  thai  Nanahbo- 
shoo might  smoke  in  his  kingdom  in  the  west.  The  In- 
dians tell  many  traditions  respecting  Nanahboshoo,  and  of 
his  wonderful  deeds.  About  the  mountain  there  are  many 
precious  stonee  to  be  found,  which  the  Indians  collect  and 
sell  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie. 

Saturday,  22d. — At  one  o'clock  this  morning  our  guide 
gave  the  command  for  embarking,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
men  were  again  on  the  water,  xt  was  very  cahn,  and  we 
came  on  very  well.  At  eight  c/clock  we  arrived  at  Michi- 
pieoton,  the  Company's  Fort.  John  Swanson,  Esquire,  the 
gentleman  in  charge,  is  a  very  good  man ;  he  gave  us  a 
very  kind  reception,  and  we  took  breakfast  with  mm. 

All  the  coast  that  we  made  before  breakfast,  for  twenty 
miles,  is  of  barren  rocks.  Some  of  the  mountains  are 
almost  perpendicular  at  the  water's  edge ;  some  of  them 
are  more  than  two  hundred  feet  high.  They  are  so  high 
that  they  make  the  passenger's  neck  quite  tired  by  constantly 
looki^  up  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  from  the  water's 
edge. 

Miehipieoton  River  is  found  at  the  foot  of  a  deep  bay.  It 
is  a  beautiful  place  for  a  fort.    The  whole  bay,  or  the 


■'^•■, 


RBV.  PETER  JACOBS. 


21 


mouth  of  the  river,  is  of  dry  sand.     The  surrounding  hills 
and  mountains  are  barren  rocks.  ',*'  ,^^v 

After  breakfast  we  again  started.  We  had  beautiful 
calm  weather.  I  know  the  men  must  have  made  more 
than  sixty  miles  to-day.  All  the  coast  that  we  passed 
over  to-day  is  barren.  In  the  hills  and  valleys  are  found 
blue  hucca  berries,  which  are  excellent  for  food.  They  are 
found  in  great  abundance ;  but  oftentimes  bears  are  to  be 
contended  with  before  the  berries  are  taken  away,  for  they 
claim  the  sole  right  of  the  berries,  and  thus  they  become 
rather  dangerous  customers  if  any  persons  infringe  q||i  their 
rights.  ^^  ■  '-'■*'  M*'\ct  i 

Sunday,  2Sd. — ^This  morning,  at  half-past  three  o'clock, 
before  we  could  really  finish  saying  our  prayers,  the  guide 
had  his  canoes  ahready  on  the  water,  and  so  we  had  to  start 
off.  In  the  evening,  we  encamped  at  a  place  about  one 
mile  from  Fort  Pic.  Orr  coast  the  whole  day  was  of  the 
same  appearance  as  the  day  before :  there  were  nothing 
but  barren  rocks  and  mounttuns.  <y.- 

In  the  evening,  Ahtikoos,  a  young  Indian  belonging  to 
the  Wesleyans,  and  who  was  formerly  a  member  of  Kev. 
Thomas  Hurlburt's  church,  of  this  place»  came  to  see  me. 
I  asked  him  if  he  was  still  a  Wesleyan,  or  if  he  had  joined 
the  Roman  Catholics  or  not.  His  answ^  was,  that  he  was 
still  a  Wesleyan,  fuid  he  intended  never  to  be  any  but  that ; 
I  therefore  gave  him  a  good  exhortation  to  fear  God  and 
to  love  him ;  and  if  he  did  so,  God  would  be  gracious  to 
him  in  his  last  days.  He  told  me  he  had  not  the  least 
doubt  that  the  Indians  of  this  place  would  embrace  Chris- 
tianity if  a  missionary  came  to  reside  among  them.  I  told 
him  the  day  may  come  wheii  a  missionary  shall  come  to  see 
you.  Ahtikoos  could  read  the  Indian  translations  he  had 
with  him,  and  the  books  the  Roman  Catholics  use.  The 
priest  offered  to  baptize,  him,  but  he  frankly  refused,  say- 
ing, he  did  not  wish  to  be  baptized  ag^n.  ^^  r 

Monde  y,  24:th. — At  half-past  three  o'clock  we  were  off 
again  from  Pic,  after  commending  Ahtikoos  to  the  care  of 
God,  and  bidding  him  farewell.  We  crossed  two  large  tra- 
verses ;  the  first  was  about  ten  miles  in  width,  and  the 
second  about  eight  miles.  We  then  bi-eakfasted  at  a  late 
hour,  and  after  a  delay  of  one  hour  we  were  off  again.  We 
made  about  twenty  miles  since  we  started  till  we  had 


.-•ii.. 


11  j^  ■'t.-^>\'-^f.  .'■•'bi'...  ^^■'.  I 


■4\ 


"  '"^V!"'-  '-"^V 


-*-'<\\' 


22 


JOURNAL  OF  THE 


5i 


breakfast  We  paated  a  great  many  islands.  At  one 
o'clock  we  dined  at  one  of  the  islands,  and  after  some 
delaj,  we  went  away  again.  In  the  evening  we  encamp- 
ed on  an  island :  made  sixty  miles  to-day.  The  coast  and 
the  islands  we  passed  are  barren  rocks.  This  is  no  place 
for  farmers.  Many  excellent  flsh  are  caught  along  tha 
coast,  such  as  white  flsh,  salmon  trout  and  sturgeon.  The 
Indians  catch  them  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  with  nets, 
hooks  and  spcai«. 

Tuesday t  25<A.^^A  fine  calm  day :  the  men  made  very 
good  progress.  As  we  passed  through  one  of  the  narrows 
this  evemng,  we  saw  a  house  that  belonged  to  one  of  the 
Mining  Company's 'men,  who  had  now  left  it.  At  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening  we  encamped  on  an  island  nearly 
opposite  the  Thunder  Mountun.  We  made  about  sixty 
miles  to-day. 

Wedmgdai/t  26tk. — At  half-past  three  o'clock  we  left  the 
island,  and  soon  went  round  the  Thunder  Mountain.  The 
reason  that  it  is  called  Thunder  Mountain,  or  Ahnemekee 
Wacheo,  according  to  the  Indians,  is,  that  the  Indians 
originally  believed  that  Thunder  used  to  come  and  lay  her 
eggs  on  this  mountain  and  hatch  them :  for  the  Indians  be- 
lieve that  thunder  is  a  large  bird,  possessing  great  power. 
Many  of  the  Indians  to  this  day  believe  this  still.  The 
reason  they  thought  so,  and  do  thm?!  so  still,  is  founded  upon 
what  is  as  follows  :-~-When  the  canoes  are  passing  and  re- 
passing the  large  traverse  between  the  mountain  and  Fort 
William  there  is  generally  thunder  and  fog  upon  the 
mountain.  The  bay  there  is  also  called  Thunder  Bay. 
The  Thunder  Mountain  is  a  long  narrow  mountain,  more 
than  two  hundred  feet  in  height,  that  is  perpendicularly ; 
and  there  is  no  access  to  the  top  of  the  mouncain,  unless 
that  he  who  wishes  to  go  goes  a  long  way  on  the  north- 
eastei  a  side  of  the  mountain,  and  then  he  can  reach  the  top 
by  a  vale  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountiun.  There  are  many 
beautiful  islands  w  this  bay  that  have  large  towering  moun- 
tains. These  would  make  strong  fortifications  that  would 
have  command  over  the  bar  and  the  mouth  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam Biver ;  but  the  mountains  are  all  barren  rocks. 

We  breakfasted  at  one  of  the  islands  in  the  bay ;  and 
^ter  breakfast,  at  ten  o'clock,  we  arrived  at  Fort  William, 
flt  the  mouth  of  Fort  William  Biver,  where  we  were  heartily 


■  iS'«.'.i\X\ 


n 


REV.  PETRR  JACOBS. 


ar 


received  by  Mr.  And  Mrs.  McKennie.  We  made  twenty 
miles  this  morning.  At  dinner  we  lay  to,  and  bore  hard 
on  the  beautiful  white  .^sh  on  the  table.  We  arose  from 
the  table,  remarking  that  we  had  an  excellent  dinner.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  McKennie  were  indeed  very  kind  to  us  during  the 
short  time  we  were  with  them ;  and  we  were  perfectly  wel> 
come  to  take  anything  in  the  way  of  provisions,  if  we  only 
asked  for  it. 

In  the  afternoon,  young  Mr.  Taylor  went  off  with  ten 
men  in  a  light  canoe  to  Red  River.  As  M:.  Francis  Erma< 
tinger  was  to  take  charge  of  this  fort,  he  remained  here.  I 
find  Mr.  Ermatinger  a  very  fine  traveling  companion.  There 
is  no  home  sickness  wliere  he  is.  We  spent  here  a  very 
pleasant  evening  with  Mr.  McKennie.  il^'-^ 

Fort  William  is  situated  on  beautiful  ground.  This  fort 
was  formerly  one  of  the  great  forts  c'  ^^  <*  North  West 
Company.  I  was  told,  that  in  the  time  oi  its  glory  it  was 
not  uncommon  to  find  a  thousand  men  here  belonging  to 
the  Company ;  but  its  greatness  is  now  fast  diminismng.  ' 

Fish  are  caught  here  in  great  abundance  at  all  the  sea- 
sons of  the  year.  Fort  William  has  a  fine  view  of  the  bay 
and  the  mountains.  The  whole  country  is  surrounded  by 
barren  rocky  mountuns ;  and  not  only  this  part  is  rocky, 
but  all  the  coast  from  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  The  canoe  route 
from  the  Sault,  in  and  out  of  th?  bays,  to  Fort  William,  is 
about  three  hundred  miles. 

Thursday,  21th. — At  ten  o'clock  we  started  from  Fort 
William ;  and  a  little  way  up  the  Fort  William  River  there 
is  a  Roman  Catholic  mission,  which  we  visited,  where  some 
of  the  Iroquois  went,  made  signs  of  the  cross,  and  said  a 
few  short  prayers.  The  priest  has  gathered  about  fifteen 
families  of  Indians ;  he  speaks  a  little  English  and  tolerably 
good  Indian.  He  was  busy  in  raising  the  frame  of  a 
chapel,  and  will  likely,  in  process  of  time,  make  a  good 
missbii  of  this ;  though  now  newly  established,  it  is  getting 
on  wonderfully,  and  the  Indians  are  living  in  their  wig- 
wams. '•)■ 

Having  staid  here  a  few  minutes,  we  proceeded  on  our 
voyage  up  against  a  strong  current,  and  made  about  twenty- 
one  miles  this  afternoon.  The  banks  on  each  side  of  the 
river  are  high.  The  soil  appears  tolerably  good,  well 
wooded,  with  heavy  birch,  poplar,  elm,  and  pine.    I  think 


•  *'  J^'i^i  ■i'k'-ev^idieL.^-r^.fi. 


J 


"•T-^-.v>='.,f;'" 


24 


■  w;  'AV  '.' 


JOUKNAL   OF  THB 


I 


||!| 


.i 


a  farmer  might  make  a  liviiag  by  cultivating  these  wild 
lands.  This  evening  we  bought  ten  or  fifteen  small  stur- 
geon from  the  IndiaiMi ;  and  in  the  hurry  and  bustle,  some 
we  paid  for  and  some  not,  as  the  Indians  were  not  satisfied 
with  what  we  gave  them,  which  was  in  Indian  com,  from 
one  to  one  and  a  half  pints  per  sturgeon,  I  dare  say  from 
one  to  two  pence.  At  supper  tine  the  men  had  a  r^ular 
*'  blow  out  on  the  sturgeons.  We  met  with  an  Indian 
chief,  who  gave  us  very  bad  news  of  some  of  the  Lac  Lap- 
lulie  Indians  starving  to  death  this  spring.  This  chief.  Ah 
De  Gonse,  is  one  <»  tlie  first  Indian  orators  in  these  parts, 
and  ean»  without  any  apparent  difficulty,  apeak  for  hours 
together.  This  same  chief  delivered  a  speech  to  his  Excel- 
lency Sir  George  Simpson,  in  the  spring  of  1841,  when 
some  of  the  oIKeers  and  gentlemen  accompanying  Sir 
George  admired  the  masterly  manner  of  his  address. 

Friday,  28iA. — After  an  early  breakfast,  the  men  began 
to  pole  txp  agttnst  a  strong  eurrent  or  rapid,  somewhere 
about  fifteen  mites  in  length.  The  banks  of  the  river  are 
high,  dry  and  sandy,  the  principal  timov;r  being  birch,  pop- 
lar, and  small  stunted  pine.  The  north  bank  is  inclining  to  - 
be  like  a  prairie,  where,  in  the  month  of  July,  an  abundance 
of  blue  berries  (whortleberries)  are  to  be  found.  I  and 
eight  men  got  out  of  the  canoes  and  walked  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  river  for  the  distance  of  some  miles,  and  then  ^ 
got  into  the  canoes  again.  After  an  hour's  paddling,  we- 
came  to  a  j^ace  where  tlie  men  were  obliged  to  make  ^ 
half  portage,  by  tating  out  part  of  the  baggage,  the  cur- 
rent being  too  strong,  so  that  when  the  eanoe  is  thus  dis- 
charged the  men  pulled  them  by  a  cord  line  about  thirty 
fathoms  long.  After  another  hour's  pull  we  came  to  a  dead 
water,  that  is  where  the  eurrent  was  stitMig,  and  apparent- 
ly no  eurrent  at  all.  Thb  was  about  two  miles  In  tsngth  ^ 
and  at  the  upper  end  of  this  we  dmed  on  a  fine  open  space 
or  plain  cleared  by  former  fires.  After  this,  I  and  eight 
men  crossed  over  to  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and  fol- 
lowed an  Indian  trail  or  path  for  about  three  miles,  which 
brought  us  to  the  foot  of  the  mountmn  Portage;  and  after 
waiting  about  fifteen  minutes,  the  canoes  arrived.  We  are 
now  about  thirty-six  miles  from  Fort  William.  The  stone 
composing  this  mountain  is  of  the  slate  appearance.  The 
portage  itself  is  about  a  nttije  in  length.    At  this  place  is 


RSV.   PITER  JACOBS. 


d5 


one  of  the  grandest  falls  of  water  to  be  seen  at  any  of  all  the 
many  noble  rivers  of  America,  and  is  second  in  grandeur 
to  the  greatest  of  cataracts,  that  of  Niagara.  It  is  worth 
the  while  of  any  one  passing  by  this  portage  to  go  and 
take  a  view  of  these  grand  falls  of  water.  The  next  port- 
age being  close  at  hand,  and  a  little  better  than  half  a  mile 
in  length,  at  the  upper  end  of  it  we  eneamped  for  the 
night.  Fort  William  River  is  scarcely  at  some  places  over 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  breadth. 

7f  Saturday,  29th. — After  an  early  breakfast,  we  started  off 
again,  and  daring  the  forenoon  we  made  three  half  port- 
ages ;  that  is,  the  men  taking  out  part  of  the  luggage,  and 
then  pulling  up  the  canoes  by  lines,  or  poling  up  the  rapids 
with  the  hfiJMoaded  canoes.  The  first  regular  portage  we 
made  to-day  was  on  an  island ;  and  about  five  hundred 
yards  above  this  is  another  portage ;  both  are  very  short ; 
and  while  the  men  were  carrying  the  canoe  over  the  port- 
age, one  of  the  men  fell  down ;  did  not  break  the  canoe,  but 
it  falling  upon  him,  hurt  him  very  much.  It  is  not  an  un- 
common accident  for  men  carrying  canoes  to  meet  with 
such  an  accident  as  this.  Sometimes  it  has  happened  that 
men  have  died  by  the  hurt  they  received  by  fallmg  down 
with  the  canoe.  After  dinner,  we  made  two  or  three  half 
portages,  where  the  men  hauled  up  the  canoes  with  lines ; 
and  in  the  evening  made  one  regular  portage,  on  ?.n  island 
only  about  fifteen  rods  long ;  and  about  half  a  mile  from 
this,  made  another,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  and  here  we 
encamped  for  the  night. 

Stcviay,  30th. — Early  this  moring  we  were  off  again. 
Poor  Christians  we  are  f  In  an  hour's  time,  arrived  at  the 
Dog  Portage.  Here  we  met  with  Mrs.  Ermatinger,  with 
five  men,  one  boy  and  a  woman.  She  is  on  her  way  down 
to  Fort  William  to  meet  her  husband,  who  is  iiow  in  charge 
of  that  establishment.  They  left  the  portage  as  we  enter- 
ed it,  and  we  made  this  splendid  portage  in  two  hours* 
time.  Some  say  it  is  three  miles  long,  and  from  the  top  of 
which  you  have  a  most  splendid  view  of  the  surrounding 
country ;  and  I  think  the  height  of  this  portage  is  more 
than  two  hundred  feet  above  water  level.  At  the  other 
end  there  is  a  fine  lake,  called  after  the  portage,  and  b^re 
we  had  breakfast.  The  lands  we  passed  from  Mountain 
Portage  to  this  are  worth  little  or  nothing  for  agricultural 


JOURNAL  OF  THl 


I 


f 


purposes ;  in  fact  they  consist  of  high  and  barren  roob 
covered  with  a  few  stinted  pine,  birch,  and  juniper ;  and 
if  it  is  not  rocky  it  is  swampy.    We  aie  now  about  thirty- 
six  miles  from  the  Mountain  Portage. 

The  Dog  Lake  is  a  fine  large  In'  \  The  part  of  if 
crossed  by  the  canoes  is  about  twelve  miles,  but  the  greater 
part  of  it  extendi!  to  the  northward  at  a  great  length  ;  and 
an  abundance  of  gsh  is  found  in  it  Of  course  its  shores 
are  rocks,  and  barren  rocks!  r^:^ 

We  enter  a  narrow  and  serpentine  river  bearing  ttie 
same  name  as  the  lake  and  poitage,  well  timbered  on  both 
sides  witii  large  and  tall  cypress.  The  etAl  is  of  a  light 
quick-sand,  and,  I  think,  in  some  places  it  would  bear  cmti- 
vation — might  raise  potatoes.  The  general  appearance  of 
the  country  through  which  the  river  runs,  which  is  up- 
ward of  forty  miles,  is  a  dismal,  waste,  howling  desert ; — 
no  hard  wood  of  any  description  whatever.  lu  the  evening 
we  encamped  at  the  first  little  rapid  in  this  river. 
.  Monday,  di«^ — Early  this  morning  we  made  the  little 
portage,  on  which  we  encamped,  and  uter  a  few  more  small 
portages  we  breakfaated.  While  the  men  were  busy  with 
their  breakfast,  I  found  a  large  new  axe,  which  I  made  a 
present  of  to  the  voyagers.  At  these  small  rapids  the  In- 
dians make  weirs,  and  catch  great  quantities  of  fish,  which 
they  lay  up  for  thieir  winter  provisions — very  desirable  at 
times ;  and  after  passing  through  a  very  narrow  river,  a 
little  wider  than  the  canoe,  and  having  miade  two  more  MU 
tie  portages,  came  to  the  head  waters  of  Lake  Superior. 
At  this  place  is  a  spring  of  cold  water.  We  now  come  to 
a  height  of  land,  to  a  portage  called  the  Prairie,  which 
forms  the  dividing  ridge  betweea  Canada  and  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Territories.  This  height  of  land  is  not,  I  dare  say, 
much  above 'sixty  feet  above  water  level,  and  is  one  of  the 
best  portages  that  we  have  as  yet  come  to;  is  fine,  dry, 
and  mostly  plain,  and  about  three  miles  long.  At  the 
commencement  of  this  portage  there  is  a  small  pond  of  fine 
cold  water,  and  here  we  dined.  After  dinner,  made  this 
portage,  and  came  to  a  small  marshy  pond ;  crossing  this, 
we  came  to  another  portage  of  about  a  mile  in  length,  to 
another  lake  again,  three  miles  long,  then  entered  into  a 
small  creek,  and  came  to  the  swampy  or  savan  portage. 
This  is  one  of  the  worst  portages  on  the  whole  water ;  it 


.■',vi. 


i    ' 


BBV.   PBTBR  JACOBS. 


27 


<r 


is  a  complete  miry  place — go  down  to  the  knees  in  mud ; 
and  I  was  obliged  to  pull  off  my  shoes  and  walk  over  this 
abominable  portage  barefooted.  It  is  about  two  miles  and 
a  half  long,  at  the  other  end  of  which  we  encamped.  The 
portage  ought  to  be  paved,  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  the 
West  Company ;  and  it  would,  perhaps,  cost  somewhere 
about  £80.  The  men  finished  making  this  portage  at  a 
late  hour,  and  all  very  tired,  so  much  so  that  some  of  them 
laid  down  and  slept  without  taking  their  suppers,  and  grum- 
bled a  good  deal. 

June  1st. — ^The  men  having  been  wearied  bv  the  pre- 
vious evening's  struggle  through  the  mud,  we  did  not  start 
till  after  breakfast,  and  descended  the  Savan  River,  which 
is  about  thirty  miles  long,  and  now  we  are  in  the  waters 
which  flow  down  to  the  Hudson's  Bar.  To-day  we  dined 
on  one  of  the  points  of  the  lake  called  Thousand  Island 
Lake ;  and  the  length  of  the  lake  passed  by  the  canoes  is 
about  twenty-five  miles,  though  the  greater  part  lies  on  one 
side  of  the  country.  On  leaving  the  lake  we  entered  a 
portage  which  is  a  little  over  a  mile  in  length,  and  this 
ought  to  be  called  the  Thousand  Island  Lake  Portage. 
The  distance  from  the  prairie,  or  the  height  of  land,  to  this 
is  about  sixty-three  miles.  I  would  here  say,  that  this  is 
my  sixth  trip  throuffh  this  wild  route,  so  that  I  can  very 
well  calculate  the  distances  of  these  lakes,  rivers,  and  port- 
ages. 

Wednesday,  2d. — At  three  o'clock  this  morning  we 
again  started  for  our  encampment,  and  passed  through  two 
small  lakes,  the  length  of  hoth  about  twelve  miles ;  came 
to  a  portage  of  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  long,  which 
is  fine  and  dry.  We  then  cs,me  into  a  creek  little  wider 
than  the  breadth  of  the  canoe ;  thence  entered  and  passed 
through  a  narrow  lake  of  about  three  miles  long,  when  we 
again  entered  n  creek  of  about  a  mile  in  length ;  we  then 
came  to  another  narrow  lake  eight  miles  long ;  at  the  end 
of  this  lake  we  breakfasted.  This  lake  is  calkd  by  the  In- 
dians Win  de  goo  oes  de  gouun,  (the  Cannibal's  Head.)  Af- 
ter breakfast,  we  passed  through  a  chain  of  small  lakes, 
varying  from  two  to  four  miles  m  length ;  and  we  ran  one 
short  rapid  in  passing  these  lakes.  We  then  came  to  the 
French  portage,  which  is  three  miles  long ;  but  the  water 
being  high  in  the  creek,  we  avoided  the  portage  by  going 


.,3'} . 


sa 


iJOUBMAL  OF  THB 


Hi 


down  in  this  small,  but  long,  and*  tediously-long  creek, 
called  the  French  River,  and  made  only  one  small  portage, 
(kc,  in  the  creek,  and  is  about  seven  miles  long.  At  the 
outlet  of  this  creek  we  dined.  After  dinner  we  passed 
through  two  small  lakes,  and  then  we  came  to  the  0  gahse 
gah  nmg,  (the  Pickerel  Fishery,)  so  called,  the  pickerel  be- 
mff  very  numerous  here  in  the  spring.  The  length  of  this 
lake  is  sixteen  miles;  and  after  passing  about  two-thirds 
of  its  length,  we  encamped  on  an  island.  The  appearance 
of  the  country  we  passed  to-day  is  nothing  worse  nor  bet- 
ter than  the  other  parts  already  described,  consisting  of  bar- 
ren rocky  hills,  the  hollows  or  valleys  of  dry  sand,  but 
bearing  beauUful  large  white  and  Norway  pines,  which 
could  answer  finely  for  building,  such  pine  as  I  have  seen 
in  Canada  made  into  boards  and  frames  of  houses. 
<;  Thursday^  Zd. — During  the  past  nieht  it  was  rather 
cold  ;  and  during  this  voyage  we  suffered  a  good  deal  from 
the  cold  weather,  which  generally  happe.is  when  ihere  is 
no  appearance  of  rain.  However,  we  started  at  three 
o'clock,  and  in  an  hour  and  a  half  came  to  a  portage  which 
is  a  mile  long,  and  ends  in  another  lake  about  four  miles 
in  length ;  and  at  the  other  end  of  this  lake  we  made 
another  portage  a  mile  in  length,  when  we  breakfasted.  I 
here  shot  four  partridges,  and  made  our  breakfast  of  them. 
After  breakfast,  we  crossed  a  lal^e  about  a  mile  long,  and 
then  went  into  a  river  of  two  mil  js  in  length,  which  brought 
us  into  a  long  narrow  lake  of  about  fourteen  miles  long,  at 
the  end  of  which  the  men  ran  down  very  heavy  rapids  after 
lightening  the  canoes ;  and  within  a  few  hundred  yards  from 
this,  another  portage,  where  the  men  took  out  part  of  the 
luggage,  and  then  ran  down  the  rapids.  It  is  wonderful 
how  well  these  men  n:anage  to  run  down  heavy  rapids 
with  their  frail  bark  canoes. 

After  this,  our  way  lay  in  a  large  river  with  a  strong 
current,  and  many  small  rapids,  which  were  in  our  favor. 

We  dined  at  the  outlet  of  this  river.  After  this  we 
passed  a  lake  of  sevon  miles  long,  and  came  to  a  portage, 
where  the  men  ran  then*  canoes  down  these  rapids.  These 
are  the  rapids  where  John  Turner  was  shjt  by  an  Indian, 
who  was  hired  by  his  wife  to  kill  him.  Turner,  in  the  act 
of  hauling  his  canoe  up  these  rapids,  was  shot  from  a  bush 
hard  by,  and  fell  into  the  water,  and  was  then  left  ior 


'Aft- 


].  ^ '^■'  ::.^;^- '-■'T'':  J-r.;->   ■';;/'• 


RBV.  PBTKR  JACOBS. 


dead  ;  but  T.'s  days  were  not  yet  numbered  ;  he  came  to, 
and  fortunately  the  next  day  a  Montreal  canoe  passed,  and 
picked  him  up.  Tlie  same  John  Turner  iviis  thirty  years 
amonff  the  Indians :  he  had  been  taken  by  them,  when  quite 
a  child,  a  captive.  The  people  of  the  civilized  world  arc 
acquainted  with  the  narrative,  puUislied  some  ten  or  fifteen 
years  ago  at  New- York,  where  he  narrates  the  various  inci- 
dents of  his  thirty  years*  captivity.  The  work  b  very  in- 
teresting. 

The  river  on  which  -we  are  now  going  down  Is  about  ten 
miles  lonff,  with  strong  current,  much  to  our  advantage. 
After  havmg  gone  about  two-thirds  of  this  river,  we  made 
a  portage  on  an  island  caHed  the  Island  Portage,  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  long.  From  the  Thousand  Island  Lake 
Portage  to  this,  is,  I  think,  rightly  calculating  the  distance 
from  one  place  to  another,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  miles,  which  will  be  observed  is  rather  under  the 
proper,  or  what  may  be  called  the  real  distance.  Late  this 
afternoon  came  to  a  lake  ifalled  by  the  Indians,  She  gonne 
go  que  ming  (Pine  Lake ;)  and  then  went  on  this  lake  for 
about  eight  miles,  and  then  encamped  for  the  m'ght. 

Friday,  4th  June. — ^We  again  snflfered  from  the  cold 
during  the  past  night,  though  it  is  now  the  4th  of  June. 
At  three  o'clock  we  came  off  again  from  the  encampment. 
After  paddling  about  six  miles  through  this  lake,  we  en- 
tered the  Macan  River.  The  banks  of  the  lake  we  have 
just  passed  are  covered  with  large  and  tall  white  and  Nor- 
way pines.  The  same  kind  of  timber  has  been  seen  plenti- 
ful during  the  two  previous  days*  voyage.  This  country 
produces  furs  and  skins  for  the  traders  of  the  richest 
sort. 

After  entering  the  river,  about  two  miles  distance,  we 
came  to  a  portage  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length.  We  then 
descended  a  wide  river,  and  strong  current  favoring  us. 
Having  gone  three  miles  further,  we  came  to  another  port- 
age, a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length  ;  and  after  we  had  gone 
on  six  miles  more,  we  breakfasted.  After  breakfast,  and 
having  gone  about  four  miles,  we  caine  to  a  portage  a  quar- 
,^r  of  a  mile  in  length.  We  then  descended  this  river, 
'whose  strong  current  carried  us  on  with  a  good  speed  for 
about  sis  miles,  and  then  arrived  at  rapids  about  a  mile 
long.     The  men  ran  these  rapids ;  and  three  miles  further 


'ftt* 


-*M' 


80 


JOURNAL  or  THI 


! 

1    '•. 


I 


1,1        '■( 


down  this  river  we  came  to  another  portage  or  rapids 
about  a  mile  long,  'fbeee  are  the  rapioi  which  are  called 
by  the  Indians  ifahmaguun,  where  the  Indians  catch  stur- 
geon and  white  fish  in  great  abundance  during  the  summer 
season.  To-day  saw  the  first  Indian  that  I  hare  seen 
while  traveling  through  this  vast  wilderness.  He  was  a 
good  distance  off,  so  we  did  not  speak  with  him ;  and  ^ven 
miles  down  this  river  we  entered  Nfhmaguun  Lake.  As 
regards  the  soil  along  this  river,  there  is  nothing  but  rocks, 
and  very  little  timMr  of  any  kind  that  is  valuable.  The 
islands  on  the  Nahmoguun  possess  good  soil  for  cultiva- 
tion ;  and  some  of  the  Indian  families  have  raised  a  good 
quantity  of  potatoes,  which  they  barter  to  the  traders  for 
goods.  After  passing  fourteen  miles  on  this  lake,  we  arrived 
at  the  two  portages.  These  two  portages  are  each  half  a 
mile  Iqpg,  and  a  half  a  mile  apart.  The  water  being  high, 
the  men  had  no  trouble  in  making  these  portages.  They 
had  only  to  hand  over  the  canoes  a  few  paces  of  ground  on 
one  of  them;  but  the  other  was  all  under  water,  and 
passed  over  the  ground  where  formerly  the  road  was.  I 
nave  never  seen  the  water  so  high  before ;  and  here  we 
dined,  and  the  men  gummed  their  canoes,  being  now  to 

N  voyage  on  open  water  all  the  way  to  the  company's  estab- 
lishment, at  Lac  la  Pluie.     I  dare  say,  on  rough  guessing, 
.it  is  about  seventy  miles  from  this  to  that  establishment. 

>     After  passing  down  the  river,  we  soon  came  to  the  Ket- 

'tie  Rapids,  so  called,  I  suppose,  from  the  whirlpools  in 
these  rapids.  Here  the  Indians  catch  white  fish  in  great 
abundance,  by  scooping  them  up  from  the  eddies  and  whirl- 
pools in  these  rapids.  This  they  do  during  the  whole 
summer  season.  This  evening,  at  a  very  late  hour,  we 
reached  the  narrows  of  the  Lac  la  Pluie,  called  by  the  In- 
dians Wahbahsgahndugautig,  and  her :  we  encamped  for 
the  night. 

Saturday t  5th  June. — ^Early  9 1  three  o'clock  we  again 
left  our  encampment,  and,  after  paddling  till  eight  o'clock, 
we  breakfastea  at  a  place  called  the  Gnnd-stone  Narrows. 

,  After  breakfast  we  proceeded  on  our  way ;  about   one 

;  o'clock  we  entered  the  Lac  la  Pluie  Eiver. 

The  Lac  la  Pluie  is  a  large  lake,  and  runs  from  north- 

^^ west  to  a  south-east  direction,  containing  many  islands 
•fl  well  wooded  with  white  and  Norway  pines,  and  bounded 


REV.    I'ETER  JACOBS. 


•1 


4\ 


with  rocky  and  barren  shores — but  white  pine  of  no  large 
size. 

At  one  o'clock  wc  entered  the  Lac  la  Pluie  River,  and 
soon  arrived  at  the  company's  fort,  being,  as  I  think, 
one  of  the  finest  and  the  largest  establishments  the  Hud- 
son'* Bay  Company  has  in  this  part  of  tlie  country.  It  is 
beautifully  situated  below  a  large  fall  of  water,  whose^  con- 
tinuous din  is  ever  heard  by  the  people  living  here,  and 
below  the  fort.  There  is  a  fine  view  a  lonff  way  down  the 
river ;  and  about  a  mile  from  the  company  s  present  estab- 
lishment is  to  be  seen  some  few  vestiges  of  an  old  establish- 
ment occupied  in  former  days  by  the  North  West  Company. 
There  is  not  a  building  remains  standing.  The  traveler  is 
only  reminded  that  there  was  once  such  a  company  in  ex- 
istence, and  that  this  place  was  occupied  by  them : — but 
their  glory,  and  the  glory  of  their  place,  is  totally  departed. 
The  nver  which  fllows  before  the  door  of  the  present  estab- 
lishment forms  the  boundary  line  which  separates  the  pos- 
sessions of  John  Bull  from  those  of  his  Brother  Jonathan. 

Sunday,  Qth. — There  are  not  many  people  at  the  fort  at 
present. — Mr.  Pether,  a  young  clerk  in  charge,  and  two 
women.  Remaining  here  over  Sabbath,  I  am  sorry  to  say 
I  had  no  congregation  to  preach  to,  but  in  the  evening  I 
baptized  one  little  girl.  The  gentleman  of  the  district  had 
already  gone,  with  all  his  men,  in  boats  down  to  York 
Factory,  so  that  the  establishment  looked  rather  solitary. 
A  person  entering  the  stores  of  this  fort  can  see,  in 
fifteen  minutes'  time,  more  rich  furs,  such  as  sable,  silver 
and  black  foxes,  <&c.,  than  he  would  in  twenty  years' 
time  m  Canada.  Young  Mr.  Pether  was  very  kind  to  me 
while  I  remained  here. 

Monday,  1th. — At  four  o'clock  we  commenced  our 
voyage  down  this  beautiful  river,  which  is  estimated  to  be 
seventy  miles  long.  In  the  forenoon  to-day  passed  three 
rivers  flowing  mto  this  fiDm  the  south;  and  at  the  junc- 
tion of  these  rivers  are  spots  of  ground  which  I  think  would 
be  fine  situations  for  mission  stations,  the  soil  being  ricli 
and  climate  favorable ;  and  therefore  could  raise  wheat,  bar- 
ley, and  potatoes ;  wood  for  building  purposes  at  hand ; 
and  there  is  also  scrubby  white  oak  to  be  found  at  these 
places. 

We  met  with  a  good  many  canoes  of  Cree  men,  who  re- 

3 


32 


JOURNAL   OF  THE 


HiM*" 


H5  ; t-' 


side  about  the  company's  fort,  and  Indians ;  and  not  a  few 
of  them  expressed  sorrow  that  I  had  not  come  to  remain, 
and  hoped  that  I  would  some  day  come  again.  About 
twelve  o'clock  we  arrived  at  the  Manito  Rapids,  where  we 
found  numerous  tents  of  Indians,  who  are  now  engaged  in 
the  sturgeon  fishery — about  three  hundred  souls  io  all. 
The|i6|  Indians  are  tall,  strong,  and  well  built.  As  a  com- 
munity, they  are  good  and  handsome-looking.  Some  of 
them,  who  are  good  hunters,  dress  very  well,  their  faces 
well  painted  with  red  and  other  colors ;  feathers  on  their 
heads,  silver  ringlets  about  their  arms,  and  earrings  and 
other  trinkets.  The  women  also  are  well  dressed,  some- 
thing corresponding  with  the  dress  of  their  lords,  except- 
ing the  feathers ;  but  they  wear  about  their  necks  brass 
wire,  which  they  consider  a  great  ornament.  Taking  them 
as  a  community,  they  look  well ;  and,  of  course,  as  in  all 
communities,  there  are  some  poor,  who  are  almost  in  a  r>tate 
of  nudity.  About  the  Manito  Rapids  would  be  a  grand 
situation  for  a  mission  station,  where  Mr.  Mason  and  myself 
once  thought  of  establishing;  and  the  Indians  and  others 
opposing  the  project,  which  they  said  would  ruin  the  stur- 
geon fishery  here.  And  taking  other  things  into  consider- 
ation, though  the  place  itself  is  as  good  as  can  be  found  any- 
where ;  but  being  far  away  from  any  sea  port,  or  the  civil- 
ized world,  whence  things  necessary  could  be  had — and  the 
expense  that  would  be  incurred  in  getting  these  things 
would  be  great — was  the  cause  of  abandoning  the  project. 

Since  I  was  among  this  people,  it  appears  a  good  many 
have  died  ;  a  few  by  natural  death,  but  most  by  starvation 
in  the  winter.  For  instance,  a  family  seven  in  number 
were  found  dead  just  as  they  were  sitting  around  their  fire, 
near  Chastellain's  Post,  at  the  Lac  du  dois  Blanc. 

After  distributing  some  tobacco  among  these  Indians, 
and  the  men  having  taken  as  much  sturgeon,  fresh  and 
dried,  as  they  wanted,  we  pushed  off  from  them,  and  dined 
near  the  Long  Sault.  After  dinner  we  put  ashore  agam  at 
the  Long  Sault,  where  there  were  some  more  Indians,  but 
not  so  many  as  at  tlie  other  place.  Here  also  I  gave  some 
tobacco.  On  going  off,  it  was  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  pre- 
vent Es  qua  gesig,  one  of  the  principal  Indians  belonging  to 
the  river,  from  jumping  into  the  canoe,  that  he  might  have 
some  conversation  with  me,  and  to  make  me  promise  to 


REV.  PETER  JACOBS. 


88 


and 
lined 
at 
but 
)me 
)re- 
Igto 
\ave 
to 


come  back  again  and  be  a  missionary  among  them.  I  was 
forcibly  reminded  oi  that  passage  of  Scripture — "  0  hadst 
thou  known,  even  thou,  things  which  belong  to  thv  peace ; 
but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyeu  1 "  I  did  not  re- 
ceive him  into  the  canoe. 

I  may  here  remark,  that  the  Long  Sault  is  one  of  those 
places  on  which  I  had  my  eyes  when  I  was  here  before  to 
have  a  mission  station ;  and  this  place  is  far  better  than 
even  the  Manito.  This  is  upward  of  a  mile  in  extent — 
good  land ;  and  further  down  the  river,  for  at  least  two 
miles,  are  ready  cleared  lands,  rich  soil,  hay,  and  grass  for 
cattle.  At  night  we  encamped  at  the  Rapid  River,  so 
called  from  its  having  a  fall  of  considerable  height  as  it 
enters  the  main  river. 

Tuesday f  8th. — Head  wind  all  day,  and  therefore  did 
not  budge  an  inch  from  our  encampment. 

Wednesdai/,  9th. — At  peep  of  day  we  were  oflf,  and 
breakfasted  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  As  I  have  said  be- 
fore, the  banks  of  this  river  are  good,  and  capable  of  being 
cultivated  ,  but  it  has  this  drawback,  that  a  ridge  of  good 
land,  of  the  breadth  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  extends  along 
the  length  of  the  river,  and  further  back  are  swamps.  The 
wind  still  blowing,  and  direct  ahead,  we  only  came  to  the 
starting-place  of  the  Grand  Traverse  of  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  and  dined  there.  It  is  a  kmd  of  a  strait,  and 
i,bout  six  miles  across ;  and  in  windy  weather  it  has  gener- 
ally a  very  rough  sea,  from  the  circumstance  of  its  being 
shoal.  It  has  bee::  known  in  former  days,  in  the  time  of 
the  North  West  Company,  when  bark  canoes  were  the 
only  crafts  in  use,  that  people  have  thrown  overboard  their 
cargoes  to  save  themselves  from  perishing  in  the  water. 
At  night  we  reached  the  Painted  Stone,  so  called,  the  In- 
dians having  painted  a  stone  here.  The  Lake  of  the 
Woods  contains  many  islands  that  might  be  cultivated,  but 
its  main  shores  are  rocks  and  swamps.  The  Indians,  on  a 
small  scale,  raise  Indian  com,  pumpkins,  and  potatoes.  At 
the  eastern  extremity  of  the  lake,  wild  rice  is  to  be  found 
in  great  abundance. 

Thursday,  10th. — Fine  calm  day.  At  half-past  three 
o'clock  we  reached  the  Rat  Portage.  The  length  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods,  from  the  mouth  of  Lake  la  Pluie  to 
Rat  Portage,  which  is  considered  the  extremity  of  the  lake, 


i 


84 


JOURNAL  OF    THE 


>M  ■• 


111:     I 


Is  more  than  serenty  miles.  The  Rat  Portage  itself  is 
about  half  a  mile  long,  and'  from  the  other  end  of  it  we 
could  see  one  of  the  out-posts  of  the  company,  and  on 
arriving  there,  found  Mr.  James  McKenzie  in  charge  of 
the  place,  who  gave  us  some  potatoes,  for  which  we  thanked 
him;  proceeded  on  our  voyage,  and  encamped  at  Birch 
Point. 

Friday,  Wth. — ^Early  this  morning  we  started  oflf,  with  a 
strong  current  in  our  favor,  and  soon  came  to,  and  ran 
down  the  Dalles.  Here  the  men  bought  some  sturgeon 
from  the  Indians.  I  also  bought  a  young  porcupine  'for 
my  own  breakfast ;  I  gave  a  little  tobacco  for  it.  The  flesh 
of  this  animal  is  excellent,  and  I  shared  it  among  a  few  of 
my  choice  friends — the  Iroquois.  After  breakfast,  the  wind 
being  strong  and  fair,  and  the  current  being  strong,  all  in 
our  favor,  we  hoisted  sail,  and  soon  passed  through  a  chain 
of  lakes,  and  at  half-past  ten  o'clock  arrived  at  the  grand 
discharge,  the  commencement  of  a  succession  of  short  port- 
ages, the  three  principal  of  which  are  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  length,  and  two  or  three  more  smaller  ones :  and 
all  these  lay  within  four  miles  of  each  other.  At  one  o'clock 
P.  M.  we  arrived  at  the  White  Dog,  where  I  met  with  Mr. 
Kennedy,  who  is  in  charge  of  a  newly  established  mission 
station  of  the  Church  of  England ;  and  here  we  took  our 
dinner.  I  here  had  a  long  conversation  with  the  Indians  on 
religious  subjects.  I  was  especially  desirous  to  impress 
their  minds  on  the  happy  results  of  becoming  Christians 
in  earnest,  bringing  as  a  proof  of  my  remarks  the  happy 
condition  of  the  Indians  in  Canada,  who  are  Christians,  and 
are  rapidly  advancing  in  civilization.  I  told  them  that  I  had 
been  over  the  great  waters  to  England,  and  had  seen  the 
Great  Female  C%i«^  eight  times  during  my  last  visit.  They 
inquired  how  she  looked ;  I  told  them  that  she  was  very 
handsome ;  that  she  lived  in  houses  or  castles  like  moun- 
tains ;  was  surrounded  by  many  great  men,  soldiers  and 
great  guns,  so  that  no  one  who  intends  evil  to  the  great 
female  Chief  can  come  near  her.  I  told  them  also 
that  England  was  a  wonderful  and  a  very  rich  country ; 
everything  wonderful  was  there  to  be  found — steamboats 
and  carriages  which  go  by  steam,  running  very  fast  on  iron 
roads ;  and  the  whole  land  is  filled  with  people,  like  the 
multitudes  of  musqvitoes  in  their  own  country. 


REV.  PETER  JACOBS. 


86 


On  leaving  them,  I  distributed  among  them  some  tobao< 
CO  and  fish-hooks,  as  I  have  done  among  the  other  Indiana 
I  met  with  on  my  journey  in  these  territories.  I  had  a 
large  supply  of  fish-hooks,  given  me  by  a  young  lady  at 
Brooklyn  to  give  to  the  Indians ;  and  may  that  young  lady 
ever  live  before  the  Lord  ! 

The  soil  about  the  mission  establishment  is  most  excel- 
lent for  cultivation,  the  climate  being  the  same  as  the  Red 
River  settlement,  and  within  the  same  latitude,  and  capa< 
ble  of  raising  wheat,  barley,  oats,  and  Indian  com,  pota- 
toes and  other  vegetables.  This  spot  of  good  land  con- 
tains about  four  hundred  or  m^re  acres,  but  the  surround- 
ing country,  as  well  as  that  we  passed,  is  nothing  but  bar- 
ren rocks  and  swamps.  The  distance  from  Rat  Portage  to 
this  place  (White  Dog)  is  about  fifty  miles. 

The  wind  still  fair ;  so  we  hoisted  sail,  and  having  passed 
many  a  long  turn  in  the  river  and  lake,  we  came  to  the 
Island  Portage,  and,  without  ever  stopping,  we  went  down 
these  fearful  rapids,  and  in  spite  of  what  the  men  could 
do,  the  canoes  were  can-ied  to  the  middle  of  the  rapids, 
and  were  whirled  round  for  some  minutes  in  the  whirlpools, 
and  every  one  thought  our  day  was  come ;  the  men  turned 
pale  as  death.  I  must  say,  I  was  not  a  little  frightened. 
After  we  got  away  and  over  the  panic,  there  were  two 
Irishmen  close  to  me,  they  gave  thanks  to  the  Lord  for 
our  deliverance  from  such  imminent  danger,  and  I  secretlv 
responded  amen  to  what  they  said.  After  the  men  bailed 
out  the  water  from  the  canoes  which  we  shipped  in  the 
rapids,  we  hoisted  sail  again  and  sailed  till  dusk,  and  passed 
the  Crook  Lake,  called  by  the  Indians  the  Gravd  Turn, 
Having  had  fair  wind  and  a  strong  current  in  our  favor  dur- 
inn-  the  whole  of  the  day,  I  dare  say  we  have  made  some- 
',  .WQ  about  eighty  miles. 

Saturday,  12th.' — Started  at  our  usual  hour,  three  o'clock ; 
we  soon  arrived  at  the  Chats  du  Jaque,  three  or  four  hun- 
dred yards  long,  and  without  delaying  in  making  this  port- 
age, we  soon  came  to  the  two  portages  called  Portage  du 
Bois.  The  first  of  these  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  and 
the  other  shorter,  and  another  in  sight  which  is  only  a  few 
hundred  yards  long,  at  the  lower  end  of  which  we  break- 
fasted. About  ten  o'clock  we  arrived  at  the  Slave  Falls. 
The  name  of  these  originated  from  two  Indian  slaves  escap- 


36 


JOURNAL  OF  TBB 


ing  from  their  cruel  masters,  went  down  these  fiills,  and 
there  perished.  The  portage  is  nearly  half  a  mile  long, 
after  which  we  passed  through  a  river  with  a  strong  cur- 
rent,  and  passed  one  small  lake,  and  then  came  to  the  falls 
called  Barrier,  and  soon  passed  this,  and  on  we  went  with 
a  good  speed,  and  passed  two  little  lakes,  and  dined  near 
the  Grand  Bapids ;  and  having  passed  two  or  three  more 
little  rapids,  we  came  to  the  distnct  portages,  seven  in  num- 
ber, and  all  lay  within  seven  miles  of  each  other,  and  none 
exceeding  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length ;  and  they  are  most 
dangerous  to  approach  either  by  a  canoe  or  boat.  Having 
passed  these  safely,  we  came  to  the  White  River,  and  here 
we  encamped  for  the  night.  We  had  made  about  sixty 
miles  to-day, 

Sunday,  13  th. — ^We  descended  the  White  River,  whose 
current  is  strong  and  swift,  and  passing  down,  came  to  the 
Lake  de  Bonnet,  after  which  we  made  two  portages  close 
together,  and  arrived  at  the  Portage  de  Bonnet.  Here  also 
is  a  spot  of  about  two  hundred  acres  of  oak  land,  fine  grass 
growing  for  cattle,  but  the  surrounding  land  is  worthless, 
so  far  as  agricultural  purposes  are  concerned.  There  may 
be  a  few  fur-bearing  animals  found  in  it.  The  portage  it- 
self is  more  than  a  mile  long ;  and  a  small  distance  below 
this  is  another  portage  one  quarter  of  a  mile  long ;  and 
passing  this,  we  descended  the  river  for  about  four  miles, 
and  arrived  at  the  portage  called  the  White  Clay  Portage. 
This  is  a  very  fine  portage,  a  few  oak  trees  about  it ;  and 
having  made  another  four  miles  down  the  river,  we  came  to 
the  Silver  Falls,  with  two  portages  of  over  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  length,  and  somewhere  about  eight  hundred  yards 
from  each  other.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  last  portage  we 
dined ;  and  after  dinner  we  went  on,  and  after  leaving  many 
ripples  and  rapids,  we  arrived  at  the  last  portage  in  the 
Winipeg  River,  which  is  about  a  half  a  mile  long;  and 
going  down  in  a  strong  current,  and  before  coming  in  sight 
of  the  company's  fort  we  came  to  a  strong  rapids  called  by 
the  Indians  Manito  Rapids,  and  the  place  where  they  gene- 
rally hold  their  Manito  feasts ;  and  I  dare  say,  by  the  number 
of  tents  at  a  point  close  by,  there  were  about  one  hundred 
Indians  assembled;  and  evidently,  by  their  dress,  paints 
about  their  persons,  and  feathers  about  their  heads,  they 
were  at  the  annual  ceremonies  of  their  heathen  worship. 


BEV.  PETER  JACOBS. 


B1 


We  were  in  sight  of  Fort  Alexander.  When  the  people  of 
the  fort  saw  us,  they  hoisted  up  a  flag,  as  they  have  done 
at  the  other  forts  we  passed,  m  honor  of  the  gentleman 
whom  they  suppose  to  be  a  passenger  in  the  canoes.  We 
landed  at  the  fort  at  four  o'clock :  at  the  j  uie  we  came, 
we  must  have  made  about  fifty  miles  to-daj-.  I  was  very 
respectfully  received  by  Mr.  James  Isbester,  a  postmaster 
in  charge  of  this  establishment.  Here  I  also  met  with 
Roderick  McKenzie,  Esquire,  a  chief  factor  in  the  service 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  his  intelligent  family. 
As  the  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  this  fort  understand  the 
Ojibway  tongue,  I  therefore  prayed  and  preached  in  that 
language ;  and  during  my  stay  here  I  had  prayers  with 
people. 

On  Monday  morning  early  the  canoes  in  which  I  came 
thus  far  went  off  for  Norway  House.  I  remained  here  for  a 
couple  of  days,  in  order  to  get  a  passage  to  the  Red  River 
settlement,  to  see  my  son,  who  is  at  the  collegiate  school  in 
that  settlement. 

In  former  days  Fort  Alexander  was  a  considerable  es- 
tablishment, especially  in  the  great  object  of  its  founders, 
namely,  the  getting  of  furs  and  skins  ;  and  it  had  also  a 
large  farm  attached  to  it,  or  vestige  of  a  large  farm.  The 
people  here  may  raise  any  quantity  of  wheat,  barley,  or  any 
kind  of  grain,  and  vegetables.  The  soil  on  both  sides  of  the 
river  being  very  good,  and  the  climate  being  also  favorable, 
anywhere  about  the  precincts  of  this  place  would  be  a  fine 
place  for  a  mission  station,  as  there  are  Indians  always 
about  the  place ;  and  I  also  found  the  Indians  more  favor- 
able  toward  Christianity  than  they  were  when  I  used  to  bo 
traveling  up  and  down  among  them. 

During  my  short  stay  here,  Mr.  McKenzie  kindly  invited 
me  to  partake  of  the  good  things  of  his  own  table,  which 
was  loaded  down  with  what  was  good. 

Wednesday,  1 6th. — Early  this  morning  I  started  off  in  a 
small  canoe,  which  I  had  hired  on  my  own  private  account. 
The  distance  from  Fort  Alexander  to  the  upper  Fort  Gar- 
ry is  about  one  hundred  miles,  which  makes  in  all  from 
Lac  la  Pluie  to  the  upper  Fort  Garry  over  four  hundred 
miles. 

At  twelve  o'clock  to-day,  arrived  at  the  Iron  Wood  Point, 
which  is  a  sort  of  a  harbor  for  canoes  to  run  into  in  bad 


j:   , 


38 


JOURNAL  OF  THK 


weather,  and  had  to  remain  here  during  the  whole  after* 
noon,  being  wind-bound. 

Thursday,  11  th. — At  ten  o'clock  this  morning  the  wind 
abated,  and  at  one  o'clock  we  reached  the  Big  Stone  Point. 
Here,  unexpectedly,  I  met  my  son  Peter,  in  a  small  canoe, 
on  his  way  to  Fort  Alexander  to  meet  me.  I  thank  the 
Lord  for  sparing  the  life  of  my  son,  and  mine,  and  permit- 
ting us  once  more  to  meet  each  other.  Our  meeting  was, 
therefore,  a  joyful  one.  My  son  and  his  crew  consisted  of 
one  young  Mr.  McKenzie  and  three  Indian  boys ;  their  provis- 
ions,  a  piece  of  ham,  half  a  loaf  of  bread,  half  a  pound  of 
tea,  one  pound  of  sugar.  Each  had  a  tin  cup.  They  had 
a  small  kettle,  but  no  plate  nor  knife ;  and  it  was  well  for 
them  that  they  had  not  to  spend  a  night  by  themselves. 
Tiiey,  of  course,  returned  from  here,  and  passed  the  Broken 
Head  River ;  came  to  a  point  of  marsh  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  mouth  of  Red  River,  and  encamped  for  the  night. 

When  we  came  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  we  had 
to  pass  through  marshes  about  six  miles  long  before  we 
arrived  at  the  real  banks  of  the  river.  Ducks  are  very  nu- 
merous here  during  the  summer  season.  Geese  are  only 
seen  here  in  the  spring  in  large  bands.  About  eight  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river  commences  the  Indian  settle- 
ment, which  was  founded  by  the  Rev.  William  Cochrane, 
one  of  the  missionaries  sent  out  to  this  country  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society.  The  whole  Indian  settlement 
is  about  four  miles  in  length,  the  upper  part  of  which  is 
settled  by  the  Musoaigoes,  and  the  lower  part  by  the  Chip- 
peways.  The  Muscaigoes  occupy  most  of  the  grcimd,  and 
their  mission  and  church  look  most  beautiful.  The  houses 
are  V  'lilt  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  From  the  mouth  of  the 
river  to  the  upper  end  of  the  Indian  settlement  there  are 
twelve  miles,  and  from  this  to  the  Lower  Fort  Garry  are 
six  miles.  This  fort  belongs  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
All  the  houses  are  built  of  stone,  and  they  are  fortified  by 
a  stone  wall  around  them,  which  is  about  nine  feet  high. 
This  would  not  stand  well  against  a  well-disciplined  army 
with  cannon,  for  they  could  easily  throw  up  temporary  lad- 
ders and  scale  the  walls.  The  banks  where  this  fort  is 
situated  are  the  highest  in  the  settlement,  so  there  is  no  fear 
of  a  flood  overflowing  the  banks.  From  this  fort  to  the 
White  Horse  Plain,  which  is  about  forty-eight  miles  dis- 


/* 


REV.    FETEH   JACOBS. 


39 


tant,  houses  are  to  be  seen  all  along  the  river,  especially 
on  the  west  side.  Fine  farms  and  excellent  land  are  to 
be  seen  all  the  way.  The  farmers  here  do  not  manure 
their  fields :  they  say  that  if  they  would  manure  them  the 
wheat  would  grow  up  into  stalks  without  any  grain.  This 
plainly  shows  the  great  richness  of  the  soil.  The  soil  of  the 
whole  country  is  of  a  dark  loamy  clay.  On  the  west  side 
of  the  river  are  prairies  extendiim  many  miles  back,  with 
very  few  trees,  and  a  little  sorubDy  oak  and  poplar.  The 
prairies  appear  to  the  traveler's  eye  as  an  immense  ocean : 
there  is  nothing  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  eye.  I  be- 
lieve that  the  whole  prairie  country,  for  hundreds  of  miles, 
toward  the  Rocky  Mountam,  is  excellent  soil  and  rich  coun- 
try. In  these  prairies  of  the  western  world  there  is  room 
for  a  million  or  more  of  farmers — I  mean  the  whole  prairie 
country  on  the  east  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where 
thousands  of  buffaloes  rove  on  the  British  territories,  and 
more  on  the  American.  But  there  is  no  timber  to  be 
foimd  in  the  plains ;  and  therefore  if  men  would  settle 
here,  they  would  have  to  build  their  houses  of  brick. 

On  the  flats  of  Red  River,  Lom  the  Lower  Fort  Garry 
and  upward,  grow  large  elm  trees :  this  is  the  only  hard 
timber  worth  speaking  of.  The  distance  betv^een  the  Lower 
Fort  Garry  and  the  Upper  Fort  Garry  is  eighteen  miles. 
This  Upper  Fort  Garry  is  situated  on  the  banks  of  the 
Assinibonie  River,  which  falls  into  the  Red  River,  and 
is  a  much  stronger  fort  than  the  other.  All  the  houses 
are  built  of  wood,  except  two,  which  are  built  of  stone. 
In  the  summer  season,  the  scenery  here  looks  very  beau- 
tiful. 

There  are  four  churches  in  the  whole  settlement,  belong- 
ing to  the  Church  of  England,  the  largest  of  which  is  St. 
Andrews,  at  the  Grand  Rapids.  This  is  a  beautiful  build- 
ing of  stone.  Another  church  is  about  to  be  built  by  the 
Chiu'ch  Missionary  Society  on  the  Assinibonie  River ;  and 
preparations  are  made  by  the  Presbyterian  community  for 
erecting  a  church  at  the  Frog  Plain,  which  is  about  five 
miles  below  the  Upper  Fort  Garry.  Mr.  Black,  the  Pres- 
byterian clergjonan,  is  an  excellent  man.  It  is  not  quite  a 
year  since  he  came  to  the  settlement  from  Canada.  There 
are  five  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  a  bishop 
named  David  Anderson,  who  is  a  very  good  and  kind  man. 


40 


JOURl^AL   OF  TIIK 


PI 


He  is  doing  all  he  can  for  the  Indians.  There  is  also  a  Ro- 
man  Catholic  bishop,  and  three  or  four  priests. 

When  I  came  to  the  settlement,  I  found  that  there 
had  been  a  flood  there  this  spring.  Nearly  every 
day  during  the  flood,  houses,  bams,  &c.,  were  seen  floating 
down  the  river  from  the  upper  part  of  the  settlement.  Tlie 
sight  was  really  avrful.  The  settlers  were  obliged  to  leave 
their  houses  and  prop^ijy,  and  tent  out  on  the  hills  and 
mountains  around  them.^^Very  much  property  was  lost  on 
the  whole ;  but  only  one  life  was  lost,  and  this  was  the  ser- 
vant of  the  bishop.  It  will  be  long  before  the  inhabitants 
of  the  settlement  are  in  the  same  condition  as  formerly. 
Timber  is  now  very  scarce,  and  it  must  be  brought  down 
from  the  Pembina,  which  is  sixty  miles  from  the  set* 
tlement,  before  any  houses  are  built.  It  is  a  great  pity 
that  the  inhabitants  of  this  place  make  not  their  houses  of 
brick  instead  of  wood ;  for  they  would  stand  much  longer, 
and  they  would  be  nearly  as  cheap  as  wood  houses.  Many 
of  the  inhabitants,  however,  on  the  lower  part  of  the  settle- 
ment are  now  building  stone  houses.  There  are  seventeen 
wind-mills  and  two  water-mills.  There  are  seven  or  eight 
schools  in  the  settlement.  The  gentlemen  and  ladies  that 
come  to  church  come  in  high  style — that  is,  with  their 
horses,  and  carriages,  and  buggies  of  the  London  make ; 
and  many  of  them  come  on  horseback.  Most  of  these  gen- 
tlemen are  those  who  retired  from  the  service  of  the  Hon. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  formerly  c>.iled  chief  factors  and 
chief  traders.  The  company  have  two  large  stores  in  the 
settlement,  one  at  the  upper  and  one  at  the  lower  fort, 
where  they  have  warehouses  filled  with  all  sorts  of  mer- 
chandise and  liquors  of  different  sorts.  The  wines  are  of 
the  superior  kind.  The  gentlemen  of  the  company  have 
everything  pretty  much  their  own  way. 

Formerly,  wild  buffalo  used  to  be  found  in  the  woods, 
at  the  mouth  of  Red  Biver,  and  on  the  prairies  along  the 
river,  but  none  are  now  to  be  found  within  t\yenty  days' 
journey  of  the  south-west  side  of  the  settlement,  as  they 
have  been  driven  away  and  killed ;  but  moose  and  reindeer 
are  still  to  be  found  in  the  woods  at  the  mouth  of  Red 
River.  They  are  also  pretty  numerous  in  Lac  la  Pluie 
district. 

Monday t  2%th  June. — Left  the  Grand  Rapids,  where 


/^ 


»EV.  PETEU  JACOBS.  41 

my  Bon  and  I  boarded  in  a  private  house.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
M.,  our  hosts,  were  very  kind  to  us  while  we  staid  with 
them. 

Went  then  to  Stone  Fort  for  my  voyaging  provisions. 
I  was  not  a  little  disappointed  when  I  could  not  get  a 
pound  of  butter.  I  was  grieved  at  the  conduct  of  one 
Mr.  Lane,  a  clerk.  Before  he  came  into  the  shop,  I  had 
got  some  biscuit  and  a  ham ;  and  evidently,  by  his  behavior, 
I  would  not  have  got  these  had  he  been  by  when  they 
were  put  down.  I  cannot  believe  that  times  in  Red 
River  are  so  hard  as  that  a  passer  by  cannot  purchase  a 
pound  of  butter  for  his  voyage.  I  am  sure  had  J.  Black, 
£squire,  been  here  he  would  have  given  everything  neces' 
sary.  He  assured  me  on  last  Saturday  that  I  would  get 
anything  I  required  at  the  Stone  Fort  for  my  journey. 
When  Mr.  Ross,  a  retired  chief  factor,  heard  that  I  had 
been  refused  a  pound  of  butter,  he  cheerfully,  with  his  usual 
kindness,  gave  me  two  or  three  pounds  from  his  own  stock, 
gratis.  I  owe  this  gentleman  many  thanks  for  kindness 
shown  me  and  my  family  by  him,  when  I  was  at  Rossville, 
at  the  commencement  of  that  mission.  May  he  ever  live 
before  the  Lord ! 

At  one  o'clock  we  went  down,  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
dining  with  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cockran  at  the  Indian  Mis' 
sion  station.  After  dinner  I  parted  with  my  son,  who  is 
engaged  with  the  Bishop  of  Rupert's  Land  to  teach  one  of 
his  principal  schools  during  the  coming  year.  Having 
hired  two  men  and  a  canoe,  I  made  a  start,  and  only  went 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River. 

Tuesday,  29 <A. — At  day-break,  some  unknown,  evil- 
minded  Indian  fired  a  gun  through  my  tent  with  shot.  The 
report  of  the  gun  made  me  jump  up  from  my  bed ;  and  I 
asked  my  bowsman  if  he  had  killed  a  duck  or  a  goose, 
supposing  that  he  must  have  fired  at  something  of  the 
kind;  but  he  asked  if  I  had  killed  anything  by  firing,  he 
thinking  I  was  the  person  who  had  fired  the  gun  so  near 
the  tent,  as  he  was,  like  myself,  asleep,  but  was  only 
awakened  by  the  report  of  the  gun.  But,  on  examination, 
I  found  that  five  grains  of  shot  had  passed  through  my 
tent.  I  suppose  that  the  unknot^D  enemy  fired  at  the  tent 
to  frighten  us  away  from  our  encampment,  so  that  in  the 
hurry  of  our  departing  we  might  leave  something  for  him 


i"'i 


^ 


48 


JOUIINAL    OF   THE 


to  pick  up.  I  could  not  imagine  thnt  he  intended  to  kill 
any  of  ua,  as  ho  did  not  know  who  we  were,  not  having 
Been  any  one  during  the  previous  evening. 

Wednesday,  SOth. — All  day,  the  wind  being  contrary,  we 
did  not  budge. 

Thursday,  Ist  of  July. — Fine  and  calm  weather ;  made 
and  passed  the  Grassy  Narrows,  and  encamped  near  the 
Grind  Stone  Point,  and  must  have  made  over  fifty  miles 
to-day.  A  great  deal  of  the  coast  we  passed  to-day  has 
good  soil,  which  might  be  cultivated,  but  no  timber  which 
may  be  used  for  building. 

Friday,  2d. — We  sailed  to  the  Grind  Stone  Point ;  here 
stopped  an  hour.  The  point  takes  its  name  from  the  qual- 
ity of  stone  found  about  it.  For  miles  along  this  coast  are 
quarries  of  excellent  grind  and  limestone,  which  may  an- 
swer for  buildings ;  and  I  wonder  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Red  River  do  not  make  use  of  it  for  their  stone  buildlugs, 
us  it  is  open  water  all  the  way,  and  may  be  boated  to  any 
part  of  the  settlement.  H&mng  staid  here  an  hour,  we 
sailed  across  the  grand  traverse  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  and 
landed  on  the  north-eastern  eoast.  The  coast  extending 
from  Fort  Alexander  to  the  end  of  the  lake  is  a  mere  des- 
ert. The  points  are  of  bare  granite  rock ;  and  now  and  then 
you  see  a  bay  with  a  sandy  beach ;  and  its  stinted  timber, 
and  the  general  appearance  of  the  country,  tell  the  sum- 
mer traveler  that  the  winters  in  these  regions  of  country 
must  be  awfully  severe.  The  lake  itself  has  an  abundance 
of  fish,  of  excellent  quality, — white  fish  and  sturgeon.  The 
white  fish  are  the  staple  food  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 
out-of-the-way  regions.  The  sturgeon  of  this  lake  are  su- 
perior to  any  which  may  be  found  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
There  are  fur-bearing  animals  to  be  found  in  its  wild  woods, 
both  of  a  common  and  rich  sort.  This  evening  we  encamp- 
ed at  the  Dog's  Head. 

Saturday  Sd. — Reached  the  Rabit  Point  in  the  forenoon, 
and  were  detained  during  the  rest  of  the  day  by  contrary 
wind  and  rain. 

Sunday,  4th. — Being  calm  and  fine,  we  went  on,  and  ar- 
rived at  Berere's  River  at  ten  o'clock,  where  I  was  kindly  re- 
ceived by  Mr.  Cummings,  a  postmaster  in  charge.  At 
four  o'clock  we  met  together  for  religious  worship :  when 
I  was  about  giving  out  my  text  to  preach,  I  asked  Mr, 


KEV.   I'ETEK  JACOBS. 


Cummings  in  whnt  language  they  wished  the  sermon  to  be 
delivered ;  he  said,  "  In  Indian."  The  people  paid  very 
good  attention  to  m^  discourse ;  and  there  was  a  goodly 
number  of  pagan  Indians  present,  and  I  sometimes  aimed 
at  their  superstitious  notions.    They  also  paid  good  attention. 

My  men  preferring  sleeping  out,  we  went  out  of  the  bay 
and  slept  on  a  rocky  island.  On  leaving  the  house  of  Mr. 
Cummings,  he,  like  a  good  Christian,  gave  us  a  good  large 
sturgeon  and  some  butter.  May  the  good  man  never  want 
butter  in  his  days  ! 

Monday,  6th. — We  are  now  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  the  Red  River,  and  we  are  yet  to  make  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  to  reach  Rossville,  and  the  lake  itself  is  con- 
sidered something  over  two  hundred  miles.  This  evening 
we  encamped  at  the  Poplar  Point.  A  long  day's  voyage 
to-day. 

Tuesday,  Qth, — Head  wind  all  day,  and  did  not  stir  from 
our  encampment.  0  it  is  sickening  to  be  so  often  wind- 
bound. 

Wednesday,  1th. — Calm  t.his  morning ;  and  in  the  after- 
noon fair  wind  getting  up,  we  soon  hoisted  sail  and  reached 
the  Spider  Islands,  but  too  late  to  proceed  on  to  the  outlet 
of  the  Winnipeg,  though  it  was  within  view. 

Thursday,  6th. — The  wind  was  still  fair  but  rather  too 
strong  for  our  frail  bark :  we  however  ventured,  and  sailed 
over  a  very  rough  sea.  Our  canoe  now  and  then  shipped 
some  water,  and  one  of  us  was  constantly  employed  in 
bailing  it  out  as  fast  as  it  came  in.  It  required  no  small 
degree  of  courage  to  sail  in  such  a  craft  as  ours.  No  gen- 
tleman would  risk  any  valuable  property  in  these  small 
canoes  of  birch  bark,  much  less  his  life.  On  this  voyage  I 
had  the  management  of  the  sail,  being  accustomed  to  voy- 
age in  the  small  canoes,  knowing  when  to  furl  and  uhrurl 
the  sail,  and  knowing  too  what  a  small  canoe  can  bear.  We 
at  last  entered  a  harbor,  went  ashore  and  got  our  breakfast. 
The  men  were  now  praising  the  canoe,  how  bravely  it  navi- 
gated the  boisterous  Winnipeg.  But,  lifting  up  my  hand  to 
heaven,'  saying,  "  There  is  our  guide  and  preserver  ! "  the 
two  men,  being  Christians,  understood  my  meaning,  but  said 
nothing.  Coming  through  the  lake,  I  kilLd  many  ducks, 
and.  two  geese.  One  was  very  fat ;  and  while  we  were  at 
breakfast  there  were  many  pelicans  flying  about  us,  and 


44 


JOURKAL  OF  THE 


8ome  were  feeding  in  the  bays ;  but  hftving  no  caps  for  my 
gun,  thev  escaped  unmolested.  Being  now  calm,  we  pro- 
ceeded through  the  Play  Green  Lake,  and  entered  a  river 
which  brought  us  to  Rossville.  The  appearance  of  the 
country  is  most  dismal.  Though  the  summer  has  already 
Hct  in,  still  the  country  is  not  divested  of  the  etiects  of  the 
intense  cold  winter,  which  generally  continues  eight  or  nine 
months  in  this  miserable  region.  Barren  rocks,  here  and 
there  a  small  cluster  of  trees,  willows,  and  a  few  s*<nted 
pine  or  fir,  dwarfed  by  the  cold,  which  ever  prevails  here, 
and  nothing  to  relieve  the  eyo  from  the  cheerless  view  be- 
fore it. 

None  but  the  worldling,  whoso  object  is  the  accu- 
mulation of  wealth,  could  be  a  willing  inhabitant  of  this 
inhospitable  region ;  or  he  whose  object  is  more  exalted 
and  more  noble  than  the  former,  namely,  the  salvation  of 
the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  this  waste,  howling  desert,  by 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  them. 

At  five  o'clock  arrived  at  Norway  House.  This  is  one 
of  the  principal  establishments  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, in  these  parts,  being  central,  and  an  inland  depot 
•vhere  all  the  brigades  if  the  northern  department  (except 
McKenzie's  River)  meet  on  their  way  down  to  YorK  Fac- 
tory. 

G.  Birnston,  Esquire,  a  chief  factor,  is  in  charge,  who 
kindly  received  me  on  my  arrival,  and  invited  me  to  tea, 
which  I  readily  accepted,  and  after  which  proceeded  dovrn 
to  the  Rossvile  Mission  Station,  which  is  about  one  and  a 
half  miles  below,  where  I  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mason  and 
family,  all  well.  I,  just  coming  from  Europe,  and  through 
Canada,  they,  of  course,  expected  every  information  rela- 
tive to  the  civilized  and  Chnstian  world ;  and,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  I  cheerfully  gave  them  such  information  as  I  pos- 
sessed concerning  men,  with  matters  and  things. 

Friday,  9  <A.-^ After  breakfast  and  prayer,  Mr.  Mason 
and  I  went  out  to  take  a  view  of  the  misson  buildings  and 
premises,  and  also  the  Indian  houses.  The  appearance  of 
the  whole  mission  is  very  pleasing. 

The  church  is  thirty  by  sixty  feet  long,  with  a  steeple 
and  bell.  It  has  lately  been  weather-boarded,  and  painted 
both  in  and  outside,  as  well  as  the  pews  and  free  seats.  It 
has  a  beautiful  appearance  from  a  distance ;  and  taking  it  all 


REV.   PBTKR  JACOBS.  49 

in  all,  I  think  it  would  not  disgrace  any  country  town  in  Can- 
ada.  Leaving  the  church,  wc  went  into  tho  hirge  school* 
house,  well  filled  with  day  scholars :  heard  some  of  the  lead* 
ing  classes  say  their  lessons,  who  said  them  very  well ;  and 
they  sing  well.  I  am  informed  by  the  schoolmaster,  that 
when  they  all  attend,  he  has  seventy-four  boys  and  girls. 
There  were  about  fifty  present,  the  others  being  away  with 
their  parents  in  4uest  of  food  in  these  hard  times. 

The  next  mission  building  we  visited  was  what  Mr.  Mason 
calls  the  Printing  Ofiice.  This  is  a  good  house  for  the  mis- 
sion family  to  five  in,  being  well  built,  weather-boarded, 
and  painted,  with  a  shingle  roof,  and  inside  is  lined  and 
painted  also,  and  in  every  respect  well  adapted  for  a  good 
winter  house  in  these  regions  of  ice  and  snow.  The  size 
of  this  house  is  twenty  feet  wide  by  thirty-six  feet  long. 
One  of  the  rooms  is  occupied  by  the  schoolmaster ;  one 
part  is  used  for  the  printing  business ;  and  I  must  say  that 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Mason  and  his  colleague,  Mr.  Stcinhauer,  in 
this  department,  deserve  commendation  for  their  efforts  to 
promote  the  knowledge  of  Christianity  among  the  benight- 
ed, ignorant  heathen  of  this  counrty,  through  the  medium 
of  the  books  they  have  printed.  They  have  printed  the 
Wesleyan  Catechism  No.  1,  an  edition  of  hymns,  part  of  the 
Sunday  service  of  the  Methodists,  also  the  Wesleyan  Piscip- 
line,  and  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  The  demand  for  these 
books  is  so  great  that  they  are  not  able  to  comply  with 
the  demands  as  fast  as  they  could  wish,  their  printing  opera- 
tions not  being  carried  on  so  rapidly  as  those  of  the  civilized 
world,  for  want  of  a  better  press,  and  other  materials  requi- 
site in  order  to  carry  on  the  business  successfully  ;  though 
hundreds  of  their  printing  have  been  issued,  and  these 
works  have  gone  into  those  parts  of  the  country  where  the 
missionary  can  never  have  access. 

Respecting  the  mission  house :  that,  after  eleven  years* 
standing,  now  requires  a  few  repairs;  the  roofing  being 
made  of  bark,  which  requires  almost  annual  repairs,  which 
not  a  little  increases  the  expenses  of  these  missions; 
and  were  all  the  mission  buildings  weather-boarded  and 
roofed,  then  renewing  of  the  bark  roofs  and  mudding 
the  walls  would  in  some  degree  lessen  the  expense  incurred. 
After  having  viewed  the  mission  premises,  we  went  to  see 
the  Indian  houses,  which  I  superintended  in  building  eleven 


li 


''V 


46 


JOURNAL  OF  THE 


1  = 


years  agu.  Some  of  them  are  still  standing,  and  inhabited 
by  the  same  people.  They  appear  to  be  in  tolerably  good 
order  yet ;  but  others  have  been  pulled  down,  and  better 
houses  built  in  their  stead.  I  found  also  that  another 
street  has  been  made  since,  and,  of  course,  the  houses  in 
this  f/.reet  are  lately  and  better  finished. 

The  mission  potato  fields,  as  well  as  those  belonging  to 
the  Indians,  are  looking  well,  and,  no  doubt,  will  reap  a 
good  crop ;  but  no  grain  of  any  kind  can  grow  to  any  ma- 
turity here,  the  climate  being  too  rigorous. 

After  passing  and  repassing  the  village,  we  went  into  the 
house  wherein  I  lived  when  I  was  at  this  station,  which 
may  'low  be  called  the  schoolmaster's  house  (should  he 
have  a  family.)  It  is  natural  and  inviting  to  me,  and  is  in  a 
very  good  condition  yet,  notwithstanding  eleven  years* 
standing. 

Sunday,  Wth. — At  seven  o'clock  this  morning  Mr.  Mason 
began  reading  the  Sunday  service  of  the  Methodists,  and  a 
few  of  the  Indians  responded.  After  the  lessons,  collects, 
and  prayers,  he  then  read  a  sermon  translated  into  the  In- 
dian, written  in  the  syllabic  characters.  He  performed  the 
whole  of  the  service  well,  and  read  his  sermon  well ;  but  I 
am  not  a  competent  judge  of  this  mixed  language  of  Ojib- 
way,  Cree,  and  Swampy.  The  Cree  and  Swampy  are  nearer 
kin  to  each  other  than  eitiier  to  the  noble  and  majestic 
Ojibway ;  and  that  is  the  language  I  profess  to  understand. 

We  went  over  to  the  company's  fort,  where  Mr.  Mason 
read  the  English  service,  and  after  which  I  preached  in 
English  to  a  respectable  congregation,  who  paid  marked 
attention  to  my  discourse.  I  trust  some  good  has  been 
done  to  the  edification  of  some  of  my  hearers.  The  service 
being  over,  Mr.  Bamston  kindly  invited  us  to  dine  with  him. 
I  find  this  gentleman  is  of  high  and  polished  education ; 
and  the  best  of  all  is,  that  he  loves  and  fears  God. 

At  three  o'clock  this  afternoon  we  held  another  service 
in  the  mission  church,  whicii  was  quite  full,  as  many  of  the 
fort  people  came  down  to  join  our  afternoon  worship.  Mr. 
Mason  read  the  hymns  in  the  Cree.  I  prayed,  and  had  a 
tolerable  good  time  in  preaching  to  my  native  brethren. 
Once  or  twice  I  reminded  the  congregation  of  the  many 
precious  seasons  we  had  together  in  the  house  of  God  eleven 
years  ago,   and  some  '>f  the  old  members  caught  the 


KEY.  PBT£H  JACOBS. 


41 


spirit  of  this ;  and  I  have  reason  to  thank  God  that  they 
vrere  encouraged  to  go  on  their  way  rejoicing,  and  that 
they  were  edified.  The  men  and  women  of  this  congrega- 
tion were  reispectably  clad,  and  sung  well.  The  church,  at 
both  morning  and  afternoon  service,  was  well  attended ; 
and  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Mason,  that  when  the  men  be- 
longing  to  this  village,  and  passing  brigades  stopping  for 
the  Sabbath,  the  church  at  such  limes  is  crowded  to  over- 
flowing, as  it  occurred  again  on  the  following  Sunday. 

At  seven  o'clock,  we  had  a  prayer  meeting  in  the  church, 
and  many  of  those  who  prayed,  referred  to  the  good  things 
they  had  heard  during  this  Sabbath  day.  This  is  the  pro- 
cess of  Sunday  labor  which  Mr.  Mason  has  to  go  through 
every  Sabbath  day  when  there  is  no  one  to  assist  him.  On 
reviewing  the  labors  of  this  Sabbath,  the  appearance  of  the 
church  and  the  congregation  of  this  mission  aloue,  the  zeal 
they  manifested  in  the  house  of  God  their  Saviour,  0  how  I 
wished  that  some  of  the  supporters  of  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions were  eye  witnesses !  I  verily  think  they  would  say 
that  they  have  not  thrown  away  their  money  in  vain,  and 
would  be  impelled  more  than  ever  to  do  more  for  the  inter- 
est of  the  missions  in  those  territories.  On  inquiry,  I  learn- 
ed, the  number  of  members  in  society  is  one  hundred  and 
twenty,  and  ten  on  trial  for  membership.  The  whole  num- 
ber of  people  attached  to  this  station  is  about  three  hun- 
dred. 

Wednesday,  litk. — Having  remained  hei'e  to  this  day, 
and  thinking  that  it  was  time  for  me  to  proceed  on  my 
journey,  I  bought  a  small  canoe  ^nd  provisions,  and  hired 
two  men  for  my  voyage  down  to  Oxford  Mission  station, 
and  to  York  Factoiy.  This  evening  I  again  preached  to 
the  congregation  assembled  for  religious  worship. 

During  my  stay  at  this  station,  Mr.  Mason  and  I  had 
some  consultation  on  the  subject  of  the  Sascatohwan  Mis- 
sion. Read  some  letters  received  from  the  Indians  in  that 
quarter,  who  pressingly  called  for  a  missionary  and  teacher. 
We  concluded,  the  least  that  can  be  done  for  the  present 
was  to  occupy  that  station  for  two  years  longer,  thinking 
that  in  the  mean  time  something  will  be  done  for  that  and 
the  other  mission  stations  belonging  to  the  Wesleyan  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Territories. 

Benjamin  Sinclair,  a  local  preacher,  with  his  family,  agreed 

4 


!-  J. 


49 


JOURNAL   OF  THE 


IE 


w\ 


hi 


to  go  and  occupy  that  station  for  the  said  term  of  two  years, 
strictly  instructing  him  not  to  incur  any  unnecessary  ex- 
pense. He  has  been  there  already ;  and  inquiring  of  him 
as  to  the  numher  of  Indians  who  were  desirous  of  being  in- 
structed in  Christianity,  he  said,  "  Too  many  for  me  to  tell 
you."  I  said,  "  That  is  well  said ;  we  will  leave  it  there." 
This  station  is  situated  in  a  rich  country  of  wild  animals, 
such  as  buffalo,  moose,  deer,  bears.  Ducks,  and  geese,  and 
fish  in  abundance.  In  fact  everything  concerning  that  sta- 
tion is  favorable.  The  soil  and  chmate  are  such  as  will 
raise  any  kind  of  grain  which  any  one  may  wish  to  raise. 

Thursday,  15  th. — After  breakfast,  loaded  our  canoe. 
The  men  and  women  of  the  village  came  and  bade  me  fare- 
well at  my  departure.  Mr.  Mason  and  men  accompanied 
me  a  considerable  distance  down  the  lake,  and  we  dined 
together ;  and,  after  we  had  a  word  of  prayer,  we  parted. 
He  went  back  to  his  station,  and  I  proceeded  on  to  Jack- 
son's Bay  Mission  Station.  Having  passed  through  rivers, 
lakes,  and  nine  portages,  we  met  with  about  thirty  freight- 
ing boats  from  York  Factory ;  among  them  were  the  boats 
of  my  old  acquaintance,  William  Sinclair,  Esquire. 

The  Sabbath  came  as  we  entered  the  Oxford  Lake,  and 
we  laid  by  for  the  day.  At  twelve  o'clock  we  had  prayers. 
As  there  were  only  three  of  us,  we  dispensed  with  the  rou- 
tine of  a  regular  service.  The  country  we  passed  during 
the  three  days'  voyage  is  the  same,  only  a  little  worse  in 
appearance — rocks  and  swamps — but  they  said  it  was  the 
country  for  furs  and  skins,  to  enrich  the  coffers  of  the  fur 
trade. 

Monday,  19th. — At  eight  o'clock  arrived  at  the  Jack- 
son's Bay  Mission  Station,  where  I  was  welcomely  received 
by  Mr.  Steinhauer,  in  charge  of  the  station,  who,  with  the 
people  of  his  charge,  were  anxiously  waiting  for  my  arrival, 
but  were  quite  disappointed  when  I  informed  them  that  I 
had  not  come  to  stay. 

I  found  the  mission  premises,  which  have  been  hurriedly 
put  up,  in  such  a  state  as  would  require  not  less  than  £50 
to  put  them  in  a  habitable  and  comfortable  order.  The 
evening  after  I  arrived  I  baptized  an  infant,  which  was 
supposed  to  be  dymg,  but  since  then  it  has  been  doing 
well. 

There  are  but  a  few  Indians  at  the  station  at  present. 


KEV.    PETER  JACOBS. 


49 


The  men  are  employed  in  boating  for  the  company,  and 
their  families  are  at  the  fort,  where  they  are  fed.  Of  course 
they  will  always  be  there  on  these  conditions.  One  Indian 
house  has  been  put  up,  and  some  more  have  cut  and 
squared  their  timber  ready  for  building  their  houses. 
When  more  houses  are  built,  they  will  give  the  mission 
station  quite  an  improved  appearance. 

I  find  my  friend  Mr.  Steinhauer  is  laboring  among  this 
people  under  some  disadvantages,  though  I  have  not  the 
least  doubt  that  he  is  doing  all  in  his  power  to  promote  the 
good  cause  here,  and  that  there  is  some  fruit  of  his  labor. 
He  is  teaching  the  school ;  preaches  to  the  people  in  their 
own  language,  (he  is  an  Ojibway  by  birth,)  and  also 
preaches  at  the  company's  fort  in  English,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people  in  that  establishment ;  and  he  is  also  engaged 
in  the  work  of  translating  the  Scriptures  into  the  Cree.  I 
say,  therefore,  that  he  is  fully  qualified,  as  far  as  these 
things  go ;  nor  can  I  doubt  of  other  and  higher  qualifications, 
indispensably  necessary  for  being  fully  enrolled  in  the  order 
of  the  ministry.  The  people  of  his  charge  see  the  necessity 
of  having  among  them  an  ordained  missionary,  who  may 
have  authority  to  marry,  and  baptize  them  and  their  chil- 
dren. To  further  Mr.  Steinhauer's  usefulness,  he  ought  to 
be  fully  set  apart  for  the  good  work,  etnd  be  ordained, 
which  would  enhance  the  prosperity  of  this  mission  station 
so  long  as  he  may  be  here.  I  hope,  therefore,  the  day  is 
not  far  distant  when  he  will  be  fully  set  apart  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry. 

Sunday,  2bth. — Another  Sabbath  day  has  come,  and  we 
cheerfully  commenced  our  work.  At  eight  o'clock  there 
was  a  Sunday  school.  Though  the  number  of  scholars 
was  but  few,  yet  it  was  pleasing  to  see  how  w.ell  they  said 
their  lessons,  and  repeated  the  greater  part  of  the  Wesleyan 
Catechism,  No.  1  ;  and  they  sang  well.  At  eleven  o'clock 
we  assembled  together.  Mr.  Steinhauer  read  the  Sunday 
service  of  the  Methodists  and  the  lesson  for  the  day,  and  I 
preached  with  considerable  freedom.  The  small  congrega* 
tion  was  deeply  attentive  ;  and  I  trust  that  some  good  lias 
been  effected,  which  will  appear  hereafter.  At  three 
o'clock  Mr.  Steinhauer  preached ;  and  in  the  evening  we 
had  a  prayer  meeting,  when  some  of  the  Indians  prayed. 

The  little  potato  fields  of  this  mission  station  are  looking 


50 


JOURNAL   OF  THE 


I: 


very  well.  The  Oxford,  or  Holy  Lake,  as  it  is  called  in  the 
map,  is  a  fine  large  lake  of  clear  water.  Fine  trout  are  to  be 
found  in  its  waters,  and  the  finest  white  fish  in  the  coun- 
try. It  is  interspersed  with  numerous  islands,  well  wooded 
with  good  timber.  Its  main  shores  are  high  and  rocky, 
and  in  some  of  its  deep  bays  is  pretty  good  soil  to  be  found, 
but  the  climate  is  too  severe  for  raising  any  kind  of  grain ; 
but  potatoes  may  be  matured  at  some  seasons.  These  parts, 
being  what  they  call  the  lower  country,  are  rocky,  but 
mostly  swampy.  However,  about  this  lake  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  timber — the  white  or  silver  pine,  which  is  sawn  into 
boards,  &c.,  for  building. 

Friday  morning,  30th  July. — At  four  o'clock,  I  left  the 
Jackson's  Bay  Mission  station,  where  I  remained  nearly  two 
weeks,  and  have  had  ocular  demonstration  of  what  is  going 
on  at  tliis  mission  station.  The  distance  from  the  station 
to  the  company's  establishment  is  full  twenty  miles,  which 
is  one  of  the  disadvantages  attendant  upon  the  station — too 
far  from  the  fort.  At  about  twelve  o'clock  arrived  at  Ox- 
ford House,  where  I  was  received  by  Mr.  Robertson,  a  post- 
master in  charge  of  this  place.  The  Sabbath  being  too 
close  at  hand,  we  determined  to  remain  till  Monday.  There 
were  a  good  number  of  Indians ;  and  some  having  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  have  their  children  baptized  ;  so  when 
Sunday  came  there  was  a  good  congregation,  when  Mr. 
Mason  preached  in  the  morning,  and  baptized  four  children 
of  a  once  most  noted  conjurer;  and  in  the  afternoon  we 
had  another  service,  when  the  conjurer,  his  wife,  and  eldest 
son  came  and  offered  themselves  for  the  rite  of  baptizm  to 
be  administered  to  them,  and  ten  children  besides ;  so  that 
something  has  been  done  to-day,  and  may  God  add  his 
blessing !    Amen. 

Monday  morning,  2d  August. — ^We  started  from  York 
Factory.  The  greater  part  of  the  day  we  were  going  down 
in  a  circuitous  river.  Ran  many  rapids  or  ripples  of  water, 
and  only  once  lifted  the  canoes  over  a  portage  of  about 
sixty  yards  long,  called  the  Trout  Fall ;  and  soon  after  this 
entered  Rice  Lake,  which  is  between  forty  and  fifty  miles, 
and  passing  the  lake  again,  entered  many  portages  and  run- 
ning places,  and  came  to  the  Swampy  Lake,  about  twelve 
miles  long ;  at  the  end  of  which  is  the  beginning  of  rapids 
and  portages  to  the  Hill,  from  which  the  river  takes  its 


KEY.   PETER  JACOBS. 


61 


name;  and  passing  the  Hill  we  came  to  the  part  of  the 
river  called  the  Still  Water,  which  continues  for  a  consider- 
able distance,  till  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Rock — the 
last  of  the  rapids  are  falls  and  portages,  in  the  Hill  River, 
whence  commences  a  continuous  rapid,  going  at  the  rate 
of  eight  or  ten  miles  per  hour. 

From  the  Rock  to  York  Factory  is  one  hundred  miles, 
makmg  in  all,  from  Norway  House  to  the  factory,  four 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Meeting  with  no  remarkable  in- 
cideint  on  the  voyage  down  the  Hill  River,  and  going  down 
lightly  in  a  small  canoe,  we  of  course  went  expeditiously ; 
and  soon  passing  the  Hill  River  came  to  the  junction  with 
the  Foxes*  River.  Here  the  river  becomes  wider  and 
deeper,  and  the  current  is  somewhat  smoother,  but  equally 
strong  as  the  Hill  River.  After  a  few  hours'  passage 
down  the  Foxes'  River,  we  came  to  where  it  joins  with  a 
large  river,  which  they  call  Street  River.  Here  the  river 
is  still  wider,  at  some  places  a  quarter  or  half  a  mile  wide. 
It  looks  fine  to  a  stranger.  Its  high  clay  bank,  white  as 
snow  from  a  distance*  the  stranger  would  think  that  the 
land  on  the  top  of  the  banks  was  good ;  but  no  :  it  is  one 
continuous  swamp  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach — all  barren, 
only  here  and  there  a  small  cluster  of  stimted  pine,  and  a 
few  withered  juniper ;  and  withal,  this  is  the  country  of 
musquitoes.  The  only  pleasure  which  a  traveler  experiences 
along  these  rivers,  through  the  swampy  coimtry,  is  to  pre- 
serve himself  as  best  he  can  from  being  eaten  up  by  these 
flies.  In  former  days  this  was  the  country  of  the  rein- 
deer ;  but  they  are  very  scarce  now-a-days,  so  also  are  fur- 
bearing  animals. 

The  Steel  River  brought  us  to  the  end  of  our  journey  in 
this  miserable  country,  and  whence  I  am  to  return.  The 
country  f^om  Oxford  House  is  much  the  same  as  other  parts 
alreauy  described,  but,  perhaps,  much  worse  for  its  dismal 
and  desert-like  appearance  —  swamps,  lakes,  creeks,  and 
rivers ;  in  fact  there  is  more  water  than  dry  land ;  hence 
the  multitude  of  musquetoes,  which  Increase  the  miseries  of 
traveling  in  this  country. 

On  our  sixth  day  from  Oxford  House  we  arrived  at  the 
general  depot,  York  Factory.  Here  are  extensive  ware- 
houses, wherein  English  goods  are  stored,  imported  from 
England,  and  are  intended  for  the  whole  of  the  northern 


52 


JOURNAL    OF   THE 


ll 


department  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Territories ;  not  that  there 
]s  a  factory  at  York  where  goods  are  manufactured,  as  peo- 
ple would  naturally  think  by  the  word  factory.  At  the 
time  the  ship  arrives  from  England,  the  place  is  quite  lively, 
like  some  seaports  in  the  civilized  world. 

At  York  Factory  there  are  numerous  small  white  whales, 
which  come  up  the  river  to  the  wharfs  of  the  establish- 
ments, and  the  people  kill  them  to  feed  their  dogs  upon. 
Seals  also  are  found  here.  .  The  polar  bears  are  also  very 
plentiful,  and  walruses  along  the  coast  from  either  of  the 
factories.  In  the  seasons  of  spring  and  autumn,  it  is 
said,  geese  and  ducks  are  very  numerous ;  and  the  company 
send  out  hunters  in  those  seasons,  who  kill  them  by  hun- 
dreds, and  then  salt  them,  which  they  serve  out  as  rations 
to  their  people.  I  have  not  seen  any  of  the  Esquimaux 
here,  but  they  are  at  Church  Hill,  where  they  trade.  This 
is  an  out-port  of  York  Factory,  in  the  northern  direction 
from  the  factory.  The  Esquimaux  are  of  a  white  complex- 
ion, and  in  their  mode  of  living  they  are  exceedingly  filthy. 
None  of  this  people  trade  at  the  factory. 

On  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Mason  and  myself  at  York  Factory, 
we  were  kindly  received  by  W.  McTavish,  Esquire,  the 
governor  of  the  fort.  We  stayed  there  a  fortnight,  and  bap- 
tized over  thirty  persons,  which  number,  added  to  those 
baptized  at  Oxford  Mission,  make  over  sixty.  Let  the 
friends  of  missions  rejoice !  Even  in  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Territories,  where  the  cause  has  to  contend  with  opposing 
influences  existing,  perhaps,  nowhere  else,  it  is  progressing. 
How  attentive  to  the  spoken  word  are  the  Indians  of  these 
territories  !  In  the  congregations  there  is  no  coughing,  no 
going  out  and  in,  no  sneezing  with  a  whoop,  that  in  the  woods 
would  make  an  Indian  dodge  behind  a  tree,  and  look  to  his 
gun;  but  every  one  is  as  quiet  and  still  as  tliey  would 
wish  those  to  be  to  whom  they  themselves  were  speak- 
ing. Were  gold  as  plenty  as  lead,  a  guinea  would  be  of 
the  same  worth  as  a  bullet,  did  it  weigh  as  much.  The 
people  of  Canada  do  not,  nor  the  people  of  England,  value 
the  preached  word  as  they  should.  Did  they,  as  the  Indians 
of  Hudson's  Bay,  hear  a  preacher  perhaps  only  once  a  year, 
they  would  be  quiet  and  still  enough  during  service. 

After  anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  annual  ship  the  Prince  Rupert^  it  arrived 


I 


BBV.  PETBR  JACOBS. 


58 


on  the  16th  of  August,  on  Sabbath,  after  morning  service. 
We  expected  the  Rev.  John  Ryerson,  and  were  much  dis- 
appointed at  not  meeting  him.  I  received  a  letter  from 
him  per  ship,  in  which  he  gave  his  reasons  for  not  comrag. 
I  felt  sorry  that  circumstances  assumed  such  a  form  as  to 
prevent  him  from  following  up  the  society's  plans. 


RETURNING." 


7!ll<  following,  tht  remainder  of  the  Journal  of  my  Journey  from  iht 
Hudeon'e  Bay  Territoriee,  i$  written  from  memory,  at  the  original 
papers  were  lost  in  Lake  Winnipeg. 


t 


Oi7  Monday,  the  16th,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  ex- 
press canoe  left  for  Canada.  I  applied  for  a  passage,  but 
was  refused,  consequently  had  to  get  a  private  conveyance. 
I  was,  however,  o£fered  a  passage  to  England  in  the  Prince 
Rupert. 

I  had  made  arrangements  with  Mr.  Mason,  who  had 
given  his  canoe  and  men  to  convey  Mr.  Ryerson,  at  our 
own  charge,  to  Norway  House  and  Red  River ;  but  these 
arrangements  had  to  be  set  aside;  and  procuring  provis- 
ions, (fee,  with  all  haste,  in  my  own  single  canoe,  and  with 
two  men,  I  turned  my  face  homeward.  Even  at  the  far 
end  of  a  long  journey,  there  is  a  pleasure  in  going  home. 

On  the  16th,  with  the  evening  tide,  which  rises  here  ten 
or  twelve  feet,  we  left  York  Factory.  The  tide  bore  us 
along  over  twelve  miles.  That  night  we  slept  on  the  beach. 
The  night  was  cold,  and  accustomed  for  some  time  past  to 
warm  bed-rooms,  I  did  not  sleep  much. 

I  will  describe  our  mode  of  traveling  up  York  River. 
The  men  alternately  towed  the  canoe  by  a  thirty-fathom  cod- 
line.  The  tow-path  is  not  a  planked  one — rocks,  stones, 
sand,  and  sometimes  water  breast-high.  Thus  for  about  a 
hundred  miles,  and  with  a  strong  current  pulling  the  canoe 
the  other  way,  we  traveled  up  York  River.  I  walked 
nearly  all  the  way  and  tired  enough  I  was  when  we  got  to 
the  "Rock,"  which  crosses  the  river  like  a  mill-dam. 

At  Fox  River  we  came  upon  a  flock  of  young  wild  geese. 
The  geese  could  fly  out  a  little,  and  we  had  a  "  wild  goose 
chase."  Every  man  to  his  goose,  in  water  and  out  of  water. 


56 


JOURNAL  OF  TUB 


through  brush,  over  brier,  heads  up,  heels  up,  every  man 
to  his  goose !  The  banks  of  the  river  at  this  place  are 
forty  or  fifty  feet  high ;  and  in  going  down  the  river  at  this 
same  place,  in  company  with  Mr.  Mason,  we  killed  twenty 
geese.  He  was  too  stout  to  roll  about  the  banks  and 
bushes  in  chase,  but,  perhaps,  did  as  much  service  to  the 
common  good  with  the  canoe  in  the  river,  by  picking  up 
the  dead  as^they  rolled  down  the  steep  bank.  The  pro- 
ceeds of  this  chase  were  six  geese  in  excellent  condition. 

The  chase  being  ended,  we  were  ready  for  lunch,  so  we 
set  about  it.  A  friend  at  the  fort  had  given  me  three  bot- 
tles of  ginger  beer ;  and  as  I  felt  somewhat  thirsty  from 
the  excitement  of  the. chase,  my  cook,  John,  set  about 
drawing  the  cork  of  one  of  the  bottles.  He  appeared  to  do 
it  awkwardly,  and  as  I  was  dubious  of  an  explosion,  I 
stopped  him,  saying,  « Take  care,  John ;  give  it  to  me ! 
Take  care  ! ! "  Pulling  a  cork ! — ^that  was  nothing ;  John 
could  do  that,  perhaps  had  done  it  too  often;  but  John 
and  my  bowsman,  an  elderly  man,  now  were  crood  members 
of  the  Norway  House  Mission,  and  showed  themselves  dur- 
ing the  time  they  were  with  me  to  be  consistent  Christians. 
What  made  the  drawing  of  this  cork  dangerous,  John 
wished  to  know  ?  His  curiosity  was  excited ;  and  as  I 
proceeded  he  stood,  with  open  eyes  and  mouth,  looking 
over  my  shoulder.  For,  as  much  as  I  laughed  during  the 
goose-chase,  when  I  observed  John,  I  felt  inclined  to  laugh 
a  little  more.  The  confined  beer-spirit  in  the  bottle  began 
to  hiss — a  thought  crossed  me,  when  away  went  the  cork 
with  a  pistol  report,  missing  John's  face  by  about  one  inch ; 
but  the  beer,  it  went  right  in.  Poor  John  was  as  frightened 
as  the  geese  were  a  few  minutes  before ;  blinded  and  roar^ 
ing,  he  attempted,  with  wide-spread  fingers,  to  stop  the 
current ;  and,  not  much  accustomed  to  handling  the  bottle, 
either  of  beer  or  else,  by  the  time  I  got  my  hand  on  its 
mouth,  the  contents  were  gone.  John  would  not  venture 
to  the  canoe,  where  the  remaining  bottles  were,  until  he 
saw  them  carefuUy  eovered ;  and  ever  after  avoided  their 
corks  presented,  as  he  would  the  muzzle  of  a  loaded  rifle. 

As  I  hav«  said  before,  the  face  of  the  country  hereabouts 
is  hilly,  covered  with  marsh,  and  here  and  there  with  low 
evergreens.     This  k  the  dominon  of  the  reindeer. 

Here  begins  an  extensive  beaver  settlement.    It  contin- 


REV.   rKTEH  JACOBS. 


57 


ues  up  this  river  for  about  sixty  milos.  When  traveling 
with  a  row-boat,  the  noiso  frightens  tlie  benver,  and  they 
dive  tinder  water ;  but  as  we  had  a  Hght  oanoe,  we  saw 
them,  at  evening  and  at  day-break,  going  to  and  returning 
from  their  work  on  shore.  They  sleep  during  day,  and 
chop  or  gnaw  during  night.  They  out  from  wands  up  to 
poles  four  inches  through,  and  from  one  to  two  fathoms 
long.  A  large  beaver  will  carry  a  stick  I  would  not  like  to 
shoulder  for  two  or  three  hundred  yards  to  the  water,  and 
then  float  it  off  to  where  he  wants  to  take  it.  The  kinds 
of  tree  used  are  willow  and  poplars  ;  the  long  leaf  and  the 
round  leaf,  preferring  the  latter.  The  Canada  beavers, 
where  the  poplar  is  larger,  lumber  on  a  larger  scale.  They 
cut  trees  over  a  foot  through ;  but,  in  that  case,  only  the 
limbs  are  used.  About  two  cords  of  wood  serve  Mr. 
Beaver  and  his  family  for  the  winter ;  but  it  is  closer  piled 
than  the  wood  I  have  seen  sold  to  some  of  our  citizens  at 
five  dollars  a  cord.  A  beaver's  house  is  large  enough  to 
allow  two  men  a  comfortable  sleeping  room,  and  is  very 
clean.  It  is  built  of  sticks,  stones,  and  mud,  and  is  well 
plastered  outside  and  in,  The  trowel  the  beaver  uses  in 
plastering  is  his  tail.  At  the  table  it  is  considered  a  great 
delicacy.  Their  beds  are  made  of  chips,  split  as  fine  as  the 
brush  of  a  wooden  broom,  and  are  put  in  one  comer  and 
kept  clean  and  dry.  After  the  bark  is  stripped — the  only 
part  the  beaver  uses  as  food — the  stick  is  carried  off  a  dis- 
tance from  the  house.  Many  of  our  good  housewives  might 
be  nothing  the  worse  of  reading  a  little  about  the  beaver. 

The  beaver,  in  large  rivers  and  lakes,  make  no  dams : 
they  have  water  enough  without ;  but  in  small  creeks  they 
dam  up,  and  make  a  better  stop-water  than  is  done  by 
many  of  our  millers.  The  place  where  they  build  their 
dams  is  the  most  labor-saving  sp6t  in  the  valley,  and  where 
the  work  will  stand  best.  The  dam  fmished,  not  a  drop  of 
water  escapes.  This  country  abounds  with  beaver,  and  an 
Indian  will  kill  upward  of  three  hundred  in  a  season.  The 
skin  of  the  beaver  is  not  worth  now  as  much  as  it  used  to 
be,  but  their  flesh  is  one  of  the  main  a:~ticles  of  food.  We 
shot  three  in  this  settlement ;  and,  as  every  voyager  knows, 
their  flesh  is  good  to  eat,  with  the  geese  and  the  beaver  we 
fared  well. 

A  few  evenings  after  we  left  the  "  Rock,"  while  the  men 


68 


JOURXAL  or   TRK 


I 


I 


were  on  before  me  "  trnoking/'  that  is,  towing  the  canoes, 
as  before  described,  I  observed  behind  a  rock  in  the  river 
that  which  I  took  to  be  a  black  fox.  I  stole  upon  it  as  qui- 
etly as  possiblo,  hoping  to  got  a  shot ;  but  the  animal  saw 
me,  and,  wading  to  the  shore,  he  turned  out  to  be  a  bear, 
who  had  been  a  fishing.  The  bear  is  a  great  fisherman. 
His  mode  of  fishing  is  rather  curious.  He  wades  into  a 
current,  and  seating  himself  on  his  hams  upright,  the  water 
coming  up  to  about  his  shoulders,  he  patiently  waits  until 
the  little  nshes  come  along,  and  mistaking  his  black,  shaggy 
sides  for  a  stone,  rub  themselves  against  him.  He  imme- 
diately seizes  them,  gives  them  a  nip,  and  with  his  left 
paw  tosses  them  over  his  left  shoulder  on  to  the  shore. 
His  left  paw  is  the  one  always  used  for  the  tossing  ashore 
part  of  his  fishing.  It  is  feeling  he  uses,  not  sight.  The 
Indians  say,  he  catches  sturgeon  when  spawning  in  shoal 
water — sometimes  so  shoal  that  their  tails  stick  out ;  but 
the  only  fish  I  know  of  his  being  in  the  habit  of  catching 
are  suckers.  These,  in  April  and  May,  their  spawning  sea- 
sons, the  bear  makes  his  daily  food,  breakfasting  about 
eight  A.  M.,  and  making  dinner  and  supper  of  one  meal, 
about  four  P.  M.  About  thirty  or  forty  suckers  serve  him. 
In  the  spawning  months,  he  can  catch  that  number  in  a 
few  minutes.  As  soon  as  he  has  caught  a  sufficient  num- 
ber, he  retires  to  the  beach  and  regales  himself  on  the  most 
delicate  part  of  the  fish,  that  part  immediately  behind  the 
gills,  throwing  the  rest  away,  The  Indians  frequently 
shoot  him  when  engaged  in  fishing. 

We  now  "  made"  as  many  portages  u£  possible ;  that  is, 
got  over  them  with  all  speed.  The  portages  on  this  route 
are  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  a  mile,  and  over.  Crossing 
a  portage  is  a  serious  affair.  Some  of  my  readers  may  not 
know  what  a  portage  is.  A  portage  is  the  land  that  divides 
lakes  from  lakes,  and  rivers  from  rivers,  or  the  neck  of  a 
peninsula,  formed  by  the  bend  of  a  river ;  or  the  sweep  of 
a  lake,  and  the  circuits  voyagers  have  to  make  to  avoid 
waterfalls  and  rapids.  To  save  time,  canoe  and  everything 
else  are  carried  on  our  shoulders  across  these.  A  man  is 
not  required  to  carry  more  than  ninety  pounds  doubled. 
Ninety  pounds  weight  is  called  a  "  piece."  Over  every  port- 
age I  carried  my  two  "  pieces ;"  and  some  notion  of  the  toil 
may  be  had,  when  I  say,  that  the  portages  are  crossed 


KEV.    rETKK   JACOIIS. 


50 


Ijencrnlly  bnrefooted,  nnd  the  paths  nre  none  of  the  smooth- 
est. Wc  are  forced  to  go  barefooted,  because  our  feet  arc 
Ro  frequently  wet,  that,  did  wc  wear  boots,  we  would  soon 
get  so  galled  that  wc  probably  would  get  so  bad  as  to  be 
Xinablc  to  proceed.  The  clam-shells  on  the  beach  wound 
the  feet  more  tnan  anything  else  does.  At  Knee  Lake  the 
portages  are  nearly  all  over ;  and  it  gave  us  great  pleasure 
to  see  its  blue  waters  stretching  out  before  us.  In  this 
lake  we  met  thirty  or  forty  of  the  Red  River  boats,  going 
their  last  trip  this  season,  for  their  fall  goods,  brought  out 
by  the  Prince  Rupert.  We  spoke  those  we  passed  in  day- 
light ;  but,  as  we  pulled  night  and  day,  we  passed  many  at 
night.  There  is  pleasure  in  meeting  with  fellow  creatures  in 
the  wilderness,  even  to  those  who  have  passed  much  of 
their  lives  there  alone. 

At  Oxford  House,  Mr.  Robinson,  the  gentleman  in  charge, 
received  us  kindly,  and  offered  me  anything  I  vi'anted  ;  but, 
as  I  was  well  supplied  already,  I  thanked  him,  and  accept- 
ed nothing. 

We  feared  head  winds  more  than  anyr:ing  else ;  and 
when  weather  served,  or  the  sky  wore  a  threatening  ap- 
pearance, we  pulled  0i\  night :  always  next  day  we  felt 
wearied  and  stupid.  Thus  we  got  to  the  head  of  Oxford 
Lake.  We  did  not  call  at  Jackson's  Bay  Mission,  for  the 
sake  of  time ; — it  was  late  in  the  season,  and  we  were  go- 
ing home.  We  pulled  hard  during  the  remainder  of  the 
week,  that  we  might  reach  Norway  House  Mission  to  spend 
the  Sabbath  there.  Saturday  night  came,  and  we  expected 
to  have  got  to  the  mission  for  morning  service,  but  we  could 
not.  We  then  attempted  to  get  there  in  time  for  evening 
service,  but  the  winds  would  not  let  us  cross  the  lake ;  and 
although  for  the  greater  part  of  the  day  we  were  within 
sight  of  the  mission,  we  could  not  get  there  until  ten  o'clock 
P.  M.  Mrs.  Mason  was  in  bed,  and  not  wishing  to  disturb 
her,  I  went  up  to  my  own  old  habitation,  standing  empty, 
and,  kindling  a  fire,  lay  down  until  morning.  In  the  midst 
of  friends,  I  slept  alone.  I  felt  depressed.  There  was  a 
sadness — a  feeling  of  coming  evil  upon  me,  and  to  pass  the 
night  alone  in  ray  old  house,  where  everything  spoke  of 
those  now  far,  far  from  me,  was  my  choice,  for  it  accorded 
■with  my  own  feelings. 

At  daylight,  the  clasa^leadera  came  to  welcome  me ;  and 


00 


JOURNAL  OF  THE 


IB' 
if, 


m 


while  breakfast  was  getting  ready  we  hau  a  good  prayer- 
meeting.     Mrs.  Mason  paid  us  every  attention. 

The  whole  Monday,  the  30th  of  August,  was  spent  in 
preparing  for  our  voyage  up  Lake  Winnipeg — ^gumming 
canoe;  washing  linen,  &c. 

On  Tuesday,  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  the  people  assembled  at 
our  canoe,  and  we  had  a  prayer-meeting.  Then,  parting 
with  Mrs.  Mason  and  friends,  we  proceeded  to  Norway 
House,  which  is  in  sight  of  the  mission,  and  dined  with  the 
gentleman  in  charge.  He  was  very  kind  to  us,  and  gave 
me  some  things  for  the  voyage.  The  afternoon  wan  calm 
and  beautiful ;  and  as  we  had  had  a  good  rest  a-id  were 
apprehensive  of  head  winds,  we  pulled  all  that  night.  At 
sunrise  next  morning  we  attempted  to  land  and  breakfast,  but 
the  water  was  so  shoal  we  could  not,  without  having  to 
Avade  a  distance.  The  beach  was  of  bright  sand,  and  the 
sun  was  about  two  hours  up,  when  I  saw  an  object  moving 
on  shore.  It  appeared  to  be  a  man ;  and  as  we  neared  it,  it 
appeared  to  make  gestures  to  us.  We  were  wearied  and 
iiungry,  but^  nevertheless,  thinking  the  stranger  was  in  dan- 
ger or  suffering,  we  pulled  on  toward  him.  Judge  of  our 
surprise  when  we  found  him  to  be  sm.  enormous  bear,  j  He 
was  seated  on  his  hams,  and  what  we  thought  his  gestures 
were  his  motions  in  raising  himself  on  his  hind  legs  to  pull 
berries  from  a  high  bush,  and,  with  both  his  paws  filled, 
sitting  dcTfn  again.  Thus  he  continued  daintily  enjoying 
his  fresh  fruit,  in  the  position  some  of  our  ladies'  lap-dogs 
are  taught  to  assume  when  asking  a  morsel  from  their  mis* 
tress.  On  we  pulled,  and  forgot  our  hunger  and  weariness. 
The  bear  still  continued  breakfasting.  We  got  as  close  in 
shore  as  the  shoal  water  would  permit,  and  John  taking  my 
gun,  a  double-barrel,  leaped  into  the  water  and  gained  the 
beach.  Some  dead  bnish-wood  lay  between  John  and  the 
bear,  hiding  the  bear  from  his  sight.  From  our  position  off 
shore  we  could  see  both  John  and  the  bear.  He  now  dis- 
covered us,  and  advanced  toward  us ;  and  John  not  seeing 
him  for  the  dead  brush,  ran  along  the  beach  toward  him. 
The  weariness  from  pulling  all  night,  and  being  so  long 
without  breakfast,  and  the  reaction  produced  by  seeing  the 
bear,  probably  destroyed  my  presence  of  mind,  for  I  remem- 
bered now  that  th?  gun  was  loaded  with  heavy  duck-shot 
only,  and  you  might  as  well  meet  a  bear  with  peas.     John 


REV.  PETEH  JACOBS. 


61 


was  in  danger,  and  we  strained  at  our  paddles  ;  but  as  the 
bear  was  a  very  large  one,  and  we  had  no  other  iire-arms 
than  the  gun  John  had,  we  would  have  been  but  poor  help 
to  John  in  the  hug  of  a  wounded  bear.  The  bear  was  at 
the  other  side  of  the  dry  brush  on  the  beach.  John  heard 
the  dry  branches  cracking  before  the  brute,  and  dodged 
into  a  hollow,  under  a  thick  bush.  The  bear  passed  the  dry 
brush,  and  was  coursing  along  the  sand ;  but  as  he  passed 
by  where  John  lay,  bang  went  the  gun.  The  bear  was 
struck.  We  saw  him  leap  through  the  smoke  on  to  the 
very  spot  where  we  saw  John  last.  We  held  our  breath ; 
but,  instead  of  the  cry  of  agony  we  expected,  bang  went 
the  gun  again !  John  is  not  yet  caught !  Our  canoe  rush- 
ed through  the  water.  We  might  yet  be  in  time.  But  my 
paddle  fell  from  my  hand  as  I  saw  John  pop  head  and  shoul- 
ders above  a  bush,  and  with  a  shout  point  to  the  side  of  the 
log  he  stood  upon.  •'  There  he  lies — dead  enough  ! "  We 
were  indeed  thankful  to  the  PreseiTer.  The  man  who  was 
somewhat  scared  at  a  corked  bottle  of  ginger-beer  could 
meet  alone,  with  duck-shot  only,  a  large,  old  bear,  and  kill 
him  too. 

Here  I  learned  for  the  first  time  how  to  preserve  meat 
without  salt  for  a  month,  and  have  it  then  good  and  fresh 
as  when  killed.  The  men  having  to  return  to  Norway 
House,  their  home,  dug  a  hole  in  the  swamp,  about  two  and 
a  half  feet  deep,  put  in  the  bottom  a  few  dry  boughs,  then, 
putting  in  the  bear's  skin  and  about  half  the  meat,  covered 
all  up.  When  they  returned,  they  would  take  it  home  with 
them.  We  took  about  half  the  bear  along  with  us,  all  the 
canoe  would  carry. 

We  were  now  in  Lake  Winnipeg.  None  of  us  will  ever 
forget  it.  Again  and  again  were  we  wind-bound  at  its 
many  points,  and  several  times  were  we  nearly  swamped. 
My  department  of  the  labor  was  bailing;  thi^I  performed 
with  a  small  kettle.  No  accident  had  ever  occurred  to  me 
on  the  water ;  and  apprehensive  of  delay  permitting  the 
frost  from  the  north  to  overtake  us,  we  were,  perhaps,  too 
venturesome. 

During  the  6th  and  7th  of  September  we  were  wind- 
bound.  On  the  8th,  the  wind  abated,  and  we  again  put  out 
to  the  lake.  The  waves  were  high  ;  but  as  the  wind  had 
gone  down,  we  thought  they  also  would   fall.     It  was 


62 


JOURNAL  OF  THE 


morning:  we  had  not  as  yet  taken  breakfast,  and  were 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  from  our  encampment,  doubling  a 
point,  when  a  wave  struck  us  and  lialf  filled  the  canoe. 
We  ran  into  the  bay,  bailed  out,  and  again  turned  to  the 
lake.  A  point  lay  about  a  mile  and  a  half  ahead.  Hound 
this  point  and  the  wind  would  be  almost  fair.  On  we 
pulled,  wet  and  cold.  How  uncertain  is  the  future !  We 
were  nearly  two  miles  from  shore  when  a  wave  struck  us, 
and  over  we  went.  When  I  rose  to  the  surface,  I  found 
the  canoe  bottom  up,  and  John  astride  on  its  stem.  I  struck 
for  the  stern,  and  grasping  it  in  my  arms  hung  on.  The 
old  man,  my.  bowsman,  hung  on  somewhere  about  the  mid- 
ships. He  had  the  worst  hold  of  us  three,  and  from  his 
being  more  frequently  under  the  waves  than  John  or  I,  he 
would  be  the  first  to  give  out.  I  said  to  John,  "  We  die 
now."  *'  Yes,"  John  replied,  "  we  certainly  die  now."  I 
advised  the  men  not  to  attempt  swimming  to  shore,  as  the 
water  was  so  cold  they  would  get  faint  and  drown,  but  to 
hold  on  to  the  canoe,  and  we  would  drift  ashore  some  time. 
They  promised  to  do  so. 

I  now  saw  that  the  bowsman  was  getting  exhausted :  his 
efforts  to  resist  and  rise  with  the  heave  of  the  wave  ap- 
peared to  be  more  and  more  feeble.  I  asked  him  if  he 
were  prepared  to  meet  his  God  ?  He  said :  "  I  have 
prayed  to  him  long,  long  ago."  He  was  ready  to  die. 
Both  the  men  were  good  Christians,  members  of  the  Nor- 
way House  Mission.  The  old  man's  eyes  were  closing, 
when  John  reached  forward  his  hand,  and  taking  him  by 
the  hair,  at  the  risk  of  loosing  his  own  hold,  placed  the  old 
man's  chin  upon  his  knee,  and  kept  it  there,  thus  keeping 
his  mouth  out  of  the  water.  We  thought  that  the  old 
man  was  dead ;  but  John,  a  hero,  would  not  let  his  head 
drop,  determined,  if  we  should  get  to  the  shore,  to  bury  his 
companion  on  the  beach. 

I  now  felt  getting  weak,  and  that  all  hope  was  over.  I 
committed  my  soul  and  my  family  to  God.  I  told  John 
that  I  felt  I  was  drowning,  and  that  he  must,  if  he  could, 
save  his  own  life.  He  replied,  that  he  had  no  wish  to  live . 
if  we  were  drowned  that  he  would  drown  too.  The  pooi 
fellow's  heart  was  like  to  burst,  not  for  himself,  but  foi 
the  old  man  and  me.  When  I  thought  of  home,  and  the 
wants  of  the  work,  I  did  wish  to  live.    If  my  work  was 


'^J^'W-  -C- 


BEV.  PETEK  JACOBS. 


68 


done,  I  would  die  ;  if  not,  all  the  water  in  the  lake  could  not 
drown  me.  God's  will  be  done!  I  was  perfectly  resigned. 
I  prayed ;  and  as  I  prayed,  suddenly  hope  of  being  saved, 
hitherto  lost,  filled  my  mind.  I  felt  an  irresistible  impres- 
sion that  we  would  not  drown,  that  we  would  all  be  saved. 
Nothing  that  I  saw  had  occurred  to  cause  this,  but  I  felt 
assured  of  its  truth.  The  wind  blew,  the  waves  heaved,  and 
we,  like  floating  leaves,  were  lossed  about  as  the  storm 
willed.  It  was  He  who  rules  the  winds,  the  waves,  and  the 
hearts  and  strength  of  men — from  him  did  we  get  our  hope 
and  our  strength.  I  felt  so  much  revived  that  I  began  to 
paddle  with  my  arm ;  and  just  as  the  waves  threw  a 
paddle  almost  into  John's  hand,  the  bowsman's  eyes 
opened.  I  now  felt  merry;  not  that  I  could  laugh,  but 
very,  very  happy — thankfulness  to  God  being  the  uppermost 
feeling. 

We  neared  the  shore,  and  several  times  I  let  my  feet 
drop  to  sound  ;  but  no  bottom.  Still  we  neared  the  shore, 
and  again  and  again  did  I  sound,  and  at  last  found  the 
bottom,  but  a  few  yards  from  the  beach. 

The  old  man  was  our  first  care — he  could  not  walk  up- 
right. John  and  I  returned  to  save  the  canoe,  and,  on 
turning  it  up,  found  of  all  we  had  only  my  bedding.  God 
was  indeed  good  to  us  in  this ;  for  we  would  have  suffered 
much  from  cold  during  the  night  had  the  bedding  not  been 
restored  to  us.  We  knelt  down  on  the  beach  and  returned 
Him  thanks.  We  now  felt  ourselves  so  much  exhausted 
that  we  had  to  lay  down  on  the  beach,  wet  and  cold  as  we 
were,  and  rest. 

We  picked  up  a  few  things  that  came  ashore,  among 
others  a  bag  of  biscuit,  a'd  about  four  pounds  of  pemmican. 
Our  misfortune  lost  to  me  my  double-barreled  gun,  all  my 
clothing,  morey,  and  the  goods  I  had  to  pay  my  voyagers, 
amounting  to  >ver  £80  sterling. 

We  continued  our  voyage.  The  allowance  of  the  three 
men  were  about  two  bites  of  pemmican  per  day,  and  a  little 
mush,  which  had  once  been  biscuit ;  but  I  could  eat  noth- 
ing  :  my  losses,  and  the  shock  I  received  from  our  danger, 
destroyed  all  sensation  of  hunger. 

In  three  days  we  arrived  at  Fort  Alexander.  The  men 
did  ample  justice  to  whatever  was  set  before  them ;  and, 
to  confess   the  truth,  the  sympathy  of  kind  friends,  and 

6 


64 


JOURNAL   OF  THE 


plenty,  brought  back  my  own  appetite  with  an  edge  I  found 
difficulty  in  turning. 

We  were  kindly  received  by  Mr.  Isbister,  the  person  in 
charge.  I  cannot  say  too  much  of  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  W. 
Sinclair.  Mr.  W.  Sinclair  had  a  good  stock,  and  his  benev- 
olent lady  pressed  me  to  take,  without  price,  all  that  I 
needed  for  the  remainder  of  my  journey.  I  had  often 
heard  of  her  kindness,  but  never  proved  it  until  now.  I 
accepted  two  shirts,  one  neckerchief,  and  a  few  other 
things,  and  had  to  refuse  her  many,  many  offers,  as  I  could 
not  conscientiously  take  what  I  really  did  not  want. 

Here  I  paid  to  John  and  the  bowsman  their  losses  caused 
by  the  upsetting  of  the  canoe,  and,  after  prayer,  we  parted. 
I  might  here  say,  that  we  had  daily  prayer  through  all 
the  journey,  and  with  the  families  of  the  various  forts  we 
called  at.  I  felt  sorry  to  part  with  the  men  who  had 
served  me  so  faithfully,  and  so  long.  Here  we  parted ; 
they  to  their  homes,  and  me  to  my  home.  Home,  though 
it  is  a  bark  wigwam,  is  a  place  to  love ! 


1 


WESLEYAN  MISSION  AT  ROSSVILLE, 

IN   THE 

HUDSON'S  BAY  TERRITORIES. 


11 
re 
id 

I: 


The  mission  village  of  Rossville,  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Ter- 
ritories, is  situated  about  three  miles  from  Norway  House, 
one  of  the  principal  trading  establishments  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  at  the  northern  end  of  Lake  Winni- 
peg. The  station  was  commenced  in  September,  1840,  by 
the  late  Rev.  James  Evans.  Having  selected  a  site  for  the 
erection  of  mission  premises,  and  dwelling  houses  for  the 
native  converts,  he  found  the  spot  thickly  covered  with 
poplars  and  underwood ;  but,  with  the  help  of  Peter  Jacobs, 
the  native  teacher,  aided  by  the  Indians  connected  with 
the  post,  he  soon  succeeded  in  clearing  the  wilderness  ;  and 
before  the  winter  set  in,  ten  comfortable  houses  had  been 
raised,  to  which  a  mission  house  was  added  by  the  Honor- 
able Company.  The  Indians,  for  whose  benefit  the  station 
was  especially  designed,  are  a  part  of  the  Swampy  Cree 
tribe ;  some  of  whom  find  permanent  employment  as  fish- 
ermen, boatmen,  and  laborers,  in  the  service  of  the  com- 
pany, while  othere  procure  their  subsistence  by  hunting  the 
fur-bearing  animals  with  which  the  country  abounds,  the 
skins  of  which  they  sell  to  the  company's  agents. 

Four  months  previously  to  the  commencement  of  the 
station,  the  Rev.  R.  T.  Rundle  had  arrived  at  the  Norway 
House  on  his  way  to  the  Sascatchewan  district ;  and  while 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Evans  to  take  charge  of  the 
mission,  he  opened  his  commission  by  preaching  in  English 
to  the  company's  officers  and  clerks,  and  addressed  the  In- 
dians through  the  medium  of  an  interpreter.  On  the  first 
Oppmon  of  his  proclaiming  the  gospel  to  the  Indians^  about 


66 


WESLEYAN  MISSION  AT  ROSSVILLE, 


'!;&*< 


one  hundred  were  present,  who  manifested  great  attention 
while  he  unfolded  to  them  the  plan  of  redeeming  love.  On 
that  very  day  some  of  them  applied  to  him  for  baptism ; 
but  wishing  to  instruct  them  further  in  the  things  of  God, 
he  declined  complying  with  their  request  for  a  seiison.  The 
Indians  appeared  to  be  a  people  pr3pared  of  the  Lord. 
Donald  Boss,  Esquire,  the  company's  officer,  the  gentleman 
after  whom  the  village  received  its  name,  had  taken  great 
pains  in  endeavors  to  civilize  them ;  and  he  had  been  evi- 
dently rendered  very  useful  in  preparing  them  to  re- 
ceive the  word  of  truth.  Before  Mr.  Evans  reached  the 
post,  several  of  the  Indians  were  under  deep  concern  for 
the  salvation  of  their  immortal  souls,  and  one,  a  female,  hfid 
been  made  a  happy  believer  in  Jesus.  Tiie  Indians  now 
came  from  a  distance  to  hear  the  word ;  and  it  was  no  un- 
common sight  to  see  groups  of  penitents,  of  every  age,  weep- 
ing under  the  subduing  influence  of  the  Spirit's  power.' 
Being  united  in  church  fellowship,  they  steadily  advanced 
in  Christian  knowledge  and  piety,  and  demonstrated  to 
those  around,  that  the  grace  of  God  can  change  the  sav- 
age into  a  saint.  Simultaneously  with  his  labors  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  village,  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Evans  were  directed 
to  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the  still  further  diffusion 
of  divme  truth.  Having  invented  syllabic  characters,  by 
which  the  reading  of  the  Cree  language  might  be  greatly 
facilitated,  he  succeded,  after  encountering  many  difficulties, 
in  cutting  punches,  casting  type,  and  printing,  with  his  own 
hand,  lesson-books,  hymns,  and  portions  of  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, &c.  Many  of  the  Indians  and  children  quickly  ac- 
quired the  art  of  reading,  and  learned  to  sing  with  fluency 
our  beautiful  hymns. 

The  summer  of  1842  was  unfavorable  to  agricultural 
improvements.,  but  the  religious  state  of  the  misson  was 
encouraging.  The  number  of  residents  on  the  station  in- 
creased, and  the  school  was  in  a  prosperous  state,  the  aver- 
age attendance  being  fifty-five.  The  company  erected  a 
school-house  at  the  village,  and  the  foundation  for  a 
chapel  was  commenced. 

The  Rossville  settlement  consisted  in  the  autumn  of  1844 
of  thirty  dwelling  houses,  a  chapel  in  course  of  erection,  a 
school-house  and  workshop.  Industry  advanced  under  the 
influence  of  Christianity.    The  cultivation  carried  on  by 


IN  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  TERRITORY. 


61 


the  inhabitants  gave  promise  of  a  productive  harvest  of  bar- 
ley, turnips,  and  potatoes,  the  only  crops  which  the  rigor 
of  the  climate  permitted  them  to  cultivate.  The  mission 
garden,  commenced  in  the  spring,  affoided  a  constant  sup« 
ply  of  fresh  vegetables  for  tlie  families  of  the  missionaries 
during  summer,  as  well  as  store- potatoes  for  the  long  win- 
ter, and  seed  for  the  following  spring.  The  gardens  of  tho 
children  in  the  school,  Mr.  Mason  stated,  in  a  communication 
to  the  committee,  looked  well,  as  also  the  gardens  and 
fields  of  barley  throughout  the  settlement ;  bnt,  what  was 
infinitely  more  important,  the  people  advanced  in  spiritual 
attainments.  Their  regular  attendance  on  the  means  of 
grace,  their  consistent  behavior,  and  the  ardent  desire  they 
manifested  for  the  salvation  of  their  fellow-countrymen  still 
in  heathen  darkness,  showed  them  to  be  possessed  of  those 
sacred  principles  which  had  made  them  "  new  creatures  in 
Christ  Jesus." 

The  church,  erected  by  the  assistance  of  the  company, 
was  opened  for  divine  service  in  1845,  and  improved  the 
appearance  of  the  village  as  well  as  greatly  promoted  the 
comfort  of  the  ministers  and  worshipers.  Being  anxious  to 
establish  a  manual-labor  school,  Mr.  Evans  procured  from 
the  Red  River  Settlement  a  female  teacher  to  instruct  the 
girls  in  spinning ;  and  his  excellency  Sir  George  Simpson, 
the  governor  of  the  company's  territories,  generously  sup- 
plied eighty-eight  pounds  of  wool,  the  first  ever  spun  at 
Eossville.  The  summer  and  fall  of  this  year  were  very  fa- 
vorable for  the  gardens,  which  produced  nearly  one  thous- 
and bushels  of  potatoes.  They  improved  much  in  civili- 
zation. They  were  clean  and  neat  in  their  persons,  and 
their  houses  exhibited  an  air  of  comfort.  When  assem- 
bled in  the  house  of  God  on  the  Sabbath,  the  missionary 
reported  their  deportment  and  appearance  are  such,  that  it 
would  have  been  difficult  to  decide  whether  it  was  an  as- 
sembly of  whites,  excepting  for  the  deep  brown  color  of 
their  skin.  The  power  and  presence  of  God  were  felt  in 
the  public  ministrations  of  the  sanctuary,  as  well  as  at 
prayer-meetings  and  more  private  means  of  grace ;  and  the 
church  members  progressed  in  knowledge  and  holiness. 
The  schools  were  in  a  flourishing  state,  and  promised,  at  no 
distant  period,  to  furnish  native  agents  for  employment  on 
the  mission.    From  Donald  Ross,  Esquire,  the  missionaries 


68 


WESLETAN  MTSSION  AT  R0S8VILLE, 


IS       I 


received  unremitting  kindness;  and  the  interests  of  the 
people  were  promoted  by  that  gentleman  to  the  utmost  of 
his  ability.  A  mission  press  was  sent  from  England  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  much  to  the  joy  of  the  missionaries,  who 
had  long  and  anxiously  looked  for  such  a  means  of  carrying 
the  light  of  the  gospel  to  the  dark  places  surrounding  them 
on  every  hand. 

The  Indians  on  the  station  were  reported,  in  1846,  to  be 
persevering,  generally,  in  the  paths  of  piety,  and  the  work 
of  God  prospered.  The  school  was  in  a  promising  state,  and 
the  progress  of  the  youth  and  children  was  satisfactory  to 
the  missionary,  and  did  credit  to  the  teachers.  The  young 
females  were  advancing  in  the  knowledge  of  domestic 
duties.  The  female  teacher,  engaged  during  the  previous 
year,  had  succeeded  in  teaching  several  of  the  girls  to  spin, 
and  to  knit  stockings,  gloves,  and  mittens,  and  to  make 
straw  hats  and  bonnets. 

Space  does  not  permit  that  we  should  continue  the  his- 
tory of  the  station  through  successive  years ;  but  its  grati- 
fying state  at  the  present  time  is  shown  in  the  following 
extract  of  a  communication  from  the  Rev.  William  Mason, 
who  writes  under  date  of  August  19th,  1862 : — 

"  Never  were  our  missions  more  prosperous,  and  never 
were  our  circumstances  more  calculated  to  inspire  hope. 
We  all  feel  encouraged,  and  with  renewed  faith  and  trust 
in  God  our  Saviour,  are  we  determined  to  prosecute  our 
work  of  mercy,  for  the  progress  of  our  missions  is  truly  en- 
couraging. There  is  a  gradual  improvement  going  on  in 
the  experience  and  knowledge  of  divine  things  in  the  mem- 
bers of  society.  Their  upright  and  consistent  conduct; 
their  steadfastness  and  diligent  attention  to  religious,  and 
conscientious  discharge  of  relative  duties,  both  at  home  and 
when  hunting,  cannot  fail  in  giving  satisfaction  and  encour- 
agement to  all  who  take  an  interest  in  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  welfare  of  the  poor  aborigines  of  these  extensive 
territories. 

Heathenism  has  received  its  death-blow,  and  falls  before 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  gospel.  Priestly  incanta- 
tions and  Indian  juggling  have  ceased :  the  conjurers  them- 
selves are  asking  for  baptism  at  the  hands  of  the  mission- 
aries. The  day  before  the  arrival  of  the  Rev.  Peter 
Jacobs,  I  admitted  into  the  visible  Church  of  Christ  five 


»IN  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  TSRKITORY. 


children  of  the  chief  of  a  few  remaining  pagans  of  Norway 
House.  At  Jackson  Bay  and  Oxford  House  we  baptized 
thirty-four  souls.*  We  have  one  hundred  and  twenty  in 
society  at  Rossville,  and  ten  on  trial;  the  school  is  also 
prospering.  Since  the  arrival  of  Mr.  James  Isbister  from 
Nelson  River,  (whose  diligent  and  persevering  application 
to  the  duties  of  his  office  I  cannot  but  commend,)  the  chil- 
dren have  made  rapid  progress.  There  are  seventy-four 
scholars,  divided  into  ten  classes,  who  are  taught  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  and  singing.  Many  of  the  children  love 
the  school,  and  beg  to  remain  at  the  village,  when  necessity 
compels  their  parents  to  leave,  that  they  may  go  to  school. 
Their  good  conduct  and  regular  attendance  are  truly  pleas- 
ing ;  and  Ave  have  every  reason  to  hope  that  they  will  be  a 
blessing  to  the  land  of  their  birth ;  certain  it  is,  they  will 
be  much  more  intelligent  than  their  fathers.  But  we  never 
forget,  that  grace  alone  can  renew  the  heart,  and  make 
them  '*  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Our  church  has  undergone  repairs.  During  the  winter 
we  sawed  timber  for  weather-boarding,  which  was  planed 
in  the  spring,  and  put  up.  The  building  now  looks  very 
vreWr  and  will  last  for  years,  as  it  has  been  painted  both  in- 
side and  out.  Toward  defraying  the  expenses  incurred,  I 
am  glad  to  acknowledge  the  liberal  contribution  of  George 
Bamston,  Esquire,  of  £5,  and  also  £2  for  prizes  to  the 
school  children.  The  Christian  Indians  gave  three  days' 
work  each,  and  some  of  them  are  becoming  quite  expert 
joiners. 

A  great  stimulus  was  given  to  the  children's  progress  in 
learning,  and  to  the  mission  generally,  by  the  interest 
which  George  Bamston,  Esquire,  has  taken  in  the  pros- 
perity of  our  cause,  and  by  the  very  liberal  contributions 
of  some  of  the  honorable  company's  officers,  a  list  of 
which  I  now  forward  you  for  due  insertion.  (The  transfers 
will  appear  in  the  company's  account  next  year.) 

Our  operations  in  the  printing  department  have  been 
somewhat  retarded  by  the  want  of  a  printer  and  an  ink 
ball ;  yet,  notwithstanding,  we  managed  to  take  off  an 
edition  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  six  copies  of  which  I  now  for- 


^  More  than  eight  hundred  baptisms  are  registered  on  this  station 
since  the  commencement  of  the  mission,  in  the  year  1840. 


i 


10 


WKSLKYAN  MISSION   AT  UUSSVILlli. 


ward  vou.  This  will  be  a  great  blessinjj  to  our  Indians,  es- 
pecially when  far  away  from  their  homes  and  the  appointed 
means  of  grace,  endeavoring  to  obtain  food  and  clothing 
for  their  families  by  the  only  means  these  cold  and  desolate 
regions  afford,  namely,  hunting.  Our  Indians  are  fond  of 
reading,  and  highly  value  the  books  printed  in  the  syllabic 
characters,  a  knowledge  of  which  they  soon  acquire.  This 
additional  publication  will  be  to  them  a  rich  mine  of  spiritual 
wealth,  imparting  light  to  their  minds,  consolation  to  their 
hearts,  and  will  lead  them  to  hope  and  prepare  for  a  better 
and  brighter  world  above.  We  need  help  in  this  department ; 
for  we  are  quite  out  of  our  hymn-books,  prayer-books,  and 
catechisms,  translations  of  which  works  are  ready  for  a 
second  and  third  edition. 

My  own  proper  work,  thank  God,  I  have  been  enabled 
to  perform  during  the  past  year  without  intermission  : 
preaching  once  in  English  to  the  residents  of  the  company's 
tort,  Norway  House,  and  twice  in  Indian  at  Rossville,  every 
Sabbath.  In  both  places  the  congregations  are  good,  and 
the  people  give  great  attention  to  the  word  of  life.  Our 
school  examination,  conducted  by  reorge  Barnston,  Es- 
quire, was  a  very  interesting  occasion;  £10  in  goods  and 
provisions  were  distributed ;  and  truly  soiTy  we  were  that 
Mr.  Jacobs  had  not  arrived  to  enjoy  the  scene. 

I  forward  you,  also,  by  this  opportunity  two  letters  from 
the  Sascatchewan,  one  from  James  Hope,  and  the  other  from 
Batosh ;  the  earnest  and  touching  appeal  for  help  I  hope 
will  be  met  by  our  conference  in  Canada.  Another  priest 
has  gone  up  there  this  summer. 


THB  END. 


/*■ 


■^,, 


i^**v.-i 


mm 


wmm 


f— ▼ 


$ 


/   f 


'* 


1. 


."V 


'jft«.. 


IS 


^. 


m.^ 


■S!a 


% 


